liiiuHiiiiiiuHniiununiiiuiiiHiiiiuiiiiii!!;: 


"^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


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Purchased   by  the  Hamill   Missionary   Fund. 


BV  2060  .G7  1911  ^ 

Goucher,  John  Franklin,  1845 

-1922. 
Growth  of  the  missionary 


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bclibereb    before     ^pracuffe     ®[nifaer£fitp     \    >. 


^^^/cIl  SEUj^"' 


GROWTH    OF   THE 

MISSIONARY 

CONCEPT 


Wo. 


JOHN  F.  GOUCHER 


NEW  YORK:     EATON    &    MAINS 
CINCINNATI:  JENNINGS  &  GRAHAM 


Copyright,  1911.  by 
EATON  &  MAINS 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface  5 

I.  The    Impossible 9 

II.  The   Improbable 45 

III.  The   Imperative 81 

IV.  The   Indispensable 119 

V.  The   Inevitable 163 


PEEFACE 

Eew  men  are  as  able  and  as  qualified  by  travel 
and  personal  observation  to  discuss  the  mission 
fields  of  the  world  as  Dr.  Goucher,  who  delivered 
the  last  lectures  of  the  E^athan  Graves  Founda- 
tion at  Syracuse  University.  His  clear,  lucid 
style  and  convincing  logic,  and  his  absorbing  in- 
terest in  missions,  invest  these  lectures  with 
unusual  interest  and  value  to  all  who  wish  to 
study  the  subject  of  missions  in  its  philosophical, 
its  broadest,  and  its  practical  aspects. 

His  discussion  of  China  is  at  a  time  when  that 
vast  empire  is  awakening  to  Western  thought  and 
beginning  earnestly  to  seek  it,  and  also  at  a  time 
when  Western  nations  are  commencing  to  appre- 
ciate that  remarkable  people. 

No  people  have  contributed  so  much  to  their 
awakening  as  the  missionaries  of  our  own  and 
other  churches.  Fifty  years  of  sowing  is  being 
rewarded  with  clearly  apparent  verdure  and 
promise  of  abundant  grain. 

Along  with  appeals  of  salvation  have  been  in- 
structions and  examples  in  the  best  forms  of  our 
civilization.  Schools  and  hospitals,  with  sanita- 
tion and  domestic  purity  and  a  new  order  of  com- 
munity life,  have  been  the  peculiar,  as  for  many 

5 


6  PREFACE 

years  they  were  the  exclusive,  offerings  of  the 
missionaries  to  a  people  that  left  all  physical  con- 
ditions to  blind  fate  and  superstition. 

Young  men  and  women  are  now  seeking  our 
schools  by  hundreds  with  an  eagerness  seldom 
seen  in  our  own  country.  They  surround  you 
and  anxiously  inquire  how  they  may  reach 
America  and  have  the  benefits  of  our  schools,  and, 
returning,  serve  their  own  country. 

The  leading  men  of  China  are  recognizing  the 
value  of  our  mission  work  to  Chinese  citizenship. 
The  influential  classes  are  beginning  to  send  their 
sons  to  our  missionary  schools.  Their  daughters 
are  found  in  the  schools  of  the  Women's  Society. 

The  missionaries  have  opened  the  highways  of 
commerce  and  are  creating  the  demands  for  the 
products  of  civilization.  They  have  introduced 
elevating  practices  and  uses  of  the  domestic  arts 
— their  houses  lighted  with  kerosene,  their  habits 
of  reading  and  social  intercourse,  object  lessons 
to  Chinamen.  Little  kerosene  lamps  from  our 
country  are  burning  with  bright  flames  in  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  humble  country  and  village 
homes  where  men  and  women  sat  in  darkness  and 
shuddered  at  their  fears  and  gloomy  thoughts,  or 
were  abandoned  to  vile  and  degrading  habits. 

The  missionaries  have  awakened  in  the  minds 
of  the  young  a  desire  for  learning.  Buddha  no 
longer  appeals  with  the  old  power  of  superstition 


PREFACE  7 

to  tke  intelligent  young  men  and  women  who 
even  come  indirectly  under  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tian missions.  They  seek  the  truth  in  religion 
and  the  knowledge  of  the  sciences  and  the  arts. 

They  are  the  equal  in  natural  ability  and  apti- 
tudes of  our  best  young  people;  in  stature  of 
striking  appearance.  They  impress  you  as  of 
capacity  that  waits  development  by  Christian 
learning  into  the  foremost  ability  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  world. 

It  has  been  a  mighty  work  for  our  missionaries 
to  counteract  the  perverting  influences  of  much  of 
godless  commercialism  in  the  persons  of  corrupt 
and  profane  men  known  to  the  Chinese  as  Chris- 
tians but  known,  to  the  missionaries  as  more 
wicked  than  the  Chinese;  to  withstand  the  in- 
justice of  governmental  practices  of  Western  na- 
tions; to  resist  the  inferences  from  the  drunken- 
ness and  licentiousness  of  soldiers  and  sailors;  to 
explain  the  backslidings  of  some  of  their  own 
numbers,  though  happily  of  rare  instances,  and 
to  make  a  positive  and  convincing  advance  into 
the  dense  ranks  of  superstition  and  capture  by 
the  forces  of  the  kingdom  of  peace,  and  of  purity, 
the  strongholds  of  darkness  and  sin. 

What  could  not  have  been  done  had  every 
secidar  instrumentality  and  enterprise  been  as 
Christian  as  its  name,  instead  of  giving  the  lie 
and  a  black  slander  to  the  character  of  the  pure 


8  PREFACE 

Christianity   by   which   these   missionaries   were 
seeking  to  convince  and  save  China  and  India! 

This  has  been  an  appalling  obstruction  in  all 
the  missionary  work. 

If  Dr.  Goucher's  lectures  awaken  the  deep  and 
appreciative  interest  in  those  who  are  so  fortu- 
nate as  to  read  them  that  they  did  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  heard  them  at  the  University,  they 
will  serve  their  purpose  in  far-widening  circles 
of  influence  and  become  a  positive  force  in  the 
salvation  of  the  mighty  Orient. 

James  R.  Day. 

Syracuse  University,  February  3,  1911. 


I 

THE  IMPOSSIBLE 


With  God  nothing  shall  be  impossible. — Luke. 

If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed, 

nothing  shall  be  impossible  unto  you. — Matthew. 


10 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE 

"Christ  alone  can  save  this  world,  but  Christ 
can't  save  this  world,  alone."  These  two  proposi- 
tions contain  the  philosophy  of  Christian  mis- 
sions, and  the  growth  in  our  missionary  concept 
is  measured  by  the  clearness  with  which  we  per- 
ceive their  practical  import. 

Those  who  have  concentrated  attention  upon 
the  difiSculties  involved,  and  considered  the 
problem  of  the  world's  evangelization  but  super- 
ficially, pronounced  its  accomplishment  impos- 
sible. Those  who  have  studied  the  problem  more 
thoroughly  are  persuaded  that  the  varied,  inher- 
ent, articulated,  and  obstinate  conditions  in- 
trenched in  the  present  order  of  things  make  its 
solution  improbable,  unless  God  brings  to  bear 
upon  it  the  subtle,  persistent,  inclusive  resources 
of  divine  power,  directed  by  divine  wisdom  and 
inspired  by  divine  love. 

That  Christ  has  limited  himself  in  the  solution 
of  this  problem  to  the  cooperation  of  human 
agents  accounts  for  the  slowness  of  the  process, 
but  makes  our  cooperation  Imperative.  That 
Christ  has  assumed  the  world's  salvation  as  his 

11 


12       GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

special  mission  makes  his  relation  to  it  Indispen- 
sable, and  is  the  guarantee  that  the  complete  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  is  Inevitable. 

In  all  our  thinking  we  should  keep  well  to  the 
fore  these  two  fundamental  facts:  (1)  The  prob- 
lem is  God's — not  forced  upon  him,  but  under- 
taken by  him  ^'according  to  the  eternal  purpose 
which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord" ; 
and  (2)  in  the  solution  of  this  problem  of  human 
salvation  God  has  limited  himself  to  human  co- 
operation. 

There  is  no  case  on  record  where  God  has  con- 
verted a  human  soul  without  the  precedent  co- 
operation of  some  other  human  soul.  ^Notice  the 
conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus.  He  was  an  excep- 
tional man,  living  in  an  exceptional  age,  to  be 
prepared  for  an  exceptional  work,  and  with  him, 
if  anywhere,  we  might  expect  an  exceptional 
method.  But  there  was  no  waiving  of  this  essen- 
tial condition,  though  adherence  to  it  required 
that  Christ  should  make  two  personal  appear- 
ances, one  to  convict  Saul,  the  subject  to  be  con- 
verted, and  the  other,  a  few  days  later,  to  com- 
mission and  persuade  Ananias  to  cooperate  with 
him  as  the  required  human  agent. 

Saul  was  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  with  letters 
authorizing  him,  ^'If  he  found  any  that  were  of 
the  Way,"  to  "bring  them  bound  to  Jerusalem." 
Suddenly  he  was  smitten  to  the  earth  by  a  great 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  13 

light,  and  ^^heard  a  voice  saying  unto  him,  Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?"  He  "was  not 
disobedient  unto  the  heavenly  vision,"  and  cried, 
"Who  art  thou.  Lord?"  "What  wilt  thou  have 
me  to  do?"  And  the  Lord  said  to  him,  "Arise, 
and  go  into  the  city,  and  it  shall  be  told  thee 
what  thou  must  do."  He  went  into  Damascus, 
and  "was  three  days  without  sight,  and  did 
neither  eat  nor  drink,"  while  he  waited  for 
further  instructions. 

The  Lord  did  his  work  thoroughly  with  Saul. 
He  both  prepared  him  for  and  showed  him  the 
method  of  his  liberation ;  but  in  order  to  complete 
his  conversion  the  cooperation  of  a  human  agent 
was  necessary,  and  the  Lord  appeared  in  a  vision 
to  a  certain  disci^^le  in  Damascus,  named  Ana- 
nias, and  told  him  he  had  Saul  in  that  city,  under 
personal  instruction,  indicated  the  street  and 
house  where  he  would  find  him,  and  assured  him 
that  Saul's  attitude  of  mind  and  dominating  pur- 
pose were  radically  changed,  and  that  he  had  in- 
formed him  by  a  vision  of  the  coming  and  min- 
istry of  his  disciple. 

Could  anything  have  been  more  considerate  of 
human  weakness  ?  Nevertheless,  Ananias  pleaded 
fear  of  Saul,  and  attempted  to  instruct  the  Lord 
with  some  gossip  several  days  old  about  Saul's 
authority  from  the  chief  priests,  and  his  purpose 
in  starting  to  Damascus.     The  Lord,  with  great 


14      GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

condescension,  gave  Ananias  an  extra  sunrise 
bulletin,  setting  forth  Saul's  present  attitude,  and 
again  commanded  him  to  go,  and  encouraged  him 
to  do  so  bj  assuring  him  of  the  high  esteem  in 
which  he  held  Saul,  as  "a  chosen  vessel,"  and  the 
great  service  he  was  to  render  the  church,  saying, 
^'I  will  show  him  how  many  things  he  must  suffer 
for  my  name's  sake." 

It  was  not  by  human  might  nor  power  that  the 
results  were  to  be  realized,  but  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  who  sought  a  willing  and  unobstructed 
human  channel  through  which  to  communicate 
his  grace.  The  ministry  required  of  Ananias  was 
so  simple  that  a  child  who  could  speak  might  have 
performed  it.  He  "entered  into  the  house;  and 
laying  his  hands  on  him,  said.  Brother  Saul,  the 
Lord,  even  Jesus,  who  appeared  unto  thee  in  the 
way  which  thou  camest,  hath  sent  me  that  thou 
mayest  receive  thy  sight,  and  be  filled  with  the 
Holy  Spirit."  Human  indifference  may  restrain 
the  manifestation  of  divine  energy,  for  God 
makes  the  miracle  of  infinite  grace  depend  upon 
the  ministry  of  human  weakness,  that  he  and 
man  may  be  laborers  together,  and,  consequen- 
tially, joint  heirs  in  the  outcome  of  the  world's 
salvation. 

Again,  when  the  eunuch  was  returning  from 
Jerusalem,  as  recorded  in  the  eighth  chapter  of 
Acts,  he  was  deeply  stirred  while  reading  from 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  15 

Isaiah  the  prophet.  In  his  intense  desire  to 
understand  the  prophecy  he  was  reading  aloud, 
when  Philip  said,  ^'Understandest  thou  what  thou 
readest?"  Philip's  inquiry  arrested  the  eunuch's 
attention,  and  seeing  a  Jew  quickened  his  desire 
into  expectancy,  so  he  besought  Philip  to  ride 
with  him,  and  expound  the  mysterious  scripture. 
The  Jews  who  knew  that  that  scripture  referred 
to  Jesus  were  very  few;  that  Philip,  who  was 
one  of  the  few  who  had  attained  to  that  knowl- 
edge, should  be  in  that  desert  place  at  just  that 
moment  was  not  a  thing  of  chance.  He  who  gave 
the  revelation,  and  had  preserved  it,  had  also  pro- 
vided for  the  exposition  which  was  necessary  to 
the  eunuch's  conversion. 

Mark  the  divine  schedule  and  exact  conjunc- 
tion by  which  this  was  realized.  Philip  was  in 
Samaria.  A  great  work  of  grace  was  in  progress, 
and  apparently  only  well  under  way,  when  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  said,  "Arise,  and  go  at  noon 
unto  the  way  that  goeth  down  from  Jerusalem  to 
Gaza;  the  same  is  desert."  How  strange  that 
command  must  have  seemed  to  Philip,  as  he  saw 
God's  cause  prospering  about  him,  with  such 
demonstrations  of  power  as  led  him  to  expect 
larger  triumphs !  But  "he  arose  and  went" 
promptly.  The  eunuch,  who  had  been  worship- 
ing in  Jerusalem,  was  returning  to  his  home  in 
the  capital  city  of  Queen   Candace.      The  road 


16      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

was  long,  but  the  command  had  been  so  timed 
that  Philip's  step,  accelerated  by  the  expectancy 
of  eager  obedience,  and  the  eunuch's  chariot,  re- 
tarded by  his  deep  meditation  upon  the  Scrip- 
tures, brought  them  face  to  face  just  when  the 
eunuch's  mental  processes  had  recognized  diffi- 
culties which  were  inexplicable  without  assist- 
ance, and  which  he  was  anxious  to  have  explained. 
Note  further,  in  their  joint  progress  along  the 
way  which  was  desert,  they  came  to  water  just 
when  the  eunuch  was  ready  for,  and  desirous  of, 
baptism. 

While  the  realization  of  the  divine  purpose  is 
limited  to  human  cooperation,  the  schedules  of 
Divine  Providence  arrange  for  efficient  conjunc- 
tions with  absolute  exactness.  God's  invariable 
method  is  to  secure  the  progress  of  his  kingdom 
through  the  cooperation  of  human  agents. 
Blessed  is  that  person  whose  prompt  obedience 
keeps  him  on  schedule  time  with  God's  gracious 
purpose. 

Such  obedience  requires  of  the  agent  a  vital 
faith  in  God;  that  is,  belief  in  his  teachings  and 
reliance  upon  his  promises.  Whoever  has  such 
faith  finds  nothing  impossible  in  his  appointed 
path,  for  he  becomes  a  part  of  God's  plan, 
scheduled  through  obedience,  with  silent,  prear- 
ranged, irresistible  forces  and  influences,  which 
compel  nations  and  cults,  physical  conditions  and 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  17 

human  peculiarities  to  serve  as  willing  or  uncon- 
scious allies. 

Every  mission  field  presents  striking  examples 
of  how  the  apparently  impossible  aligns  itself  re- 
sponsive to  the  purpose  of  God  when  a  willing 
agent  interprets  that  purpose  through  personal 
obedience.  By  way  of  illustration,  let  us  con- 
sider somewhat  in  detail  the  opening  of  Protes- 
tant mission  work  in  China,  and  note  the  certainty 
of  success  when  Divine  Providence  finds  oppor- 
tunity through  human  faithfulness. 

January  5,  1782,  at  Puller's  Green,  E'orth- 
umberland,  England,  a  babe  was  born,  and  named 
Eobert  Morrison.  His  father  was  a  Scotchman, 
his  mother  a  !N"orthumbrian,  and  a  loving  wel- 
come awaited  his  expected  advent  as  the  youngest 
of  eight  children  into  their  humble  Christian 
home. 

His  parents  moved  in  1785  to  Xewcastle-on- 
Tyne,  where  his  childhood  was  spent.  There  was 
nothing  extraordinary  in  his  early  life;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  it  is  recorded  of  him  that  "for  some 
time  he  showed  slowness  in  learning."  In  that 
Morrison  was  like  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Adam 
Clarke,  Goldsmith,  Chalmers,  Disraeli,  and  many 
others. 

He  left  school  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  went 
into  his  father's  shop  to  learn  the  trade  of  last- 
making,  where  also,  in  his  youth,  worked  George 


18       GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

Stephenson,  who,  after  a  struggle  of  thirty  years, 
invented  the  steam  engine. 

In  1Y98,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  Morrison  was 
converted.  That  was  something  extraordinary. 
It  was  not  extraordinary  that  he  should  be  con- 
verted, but  conversion  is  always  extra-ordinary. 
This  wrought  a  radical  change  in  Robert's  whole 
life.  It  quickened  his  active  powers,  awakened 
his  dormant  powers,  and  gave  high  purpose  to 
all  that  he  did.  He  consulted  with  the  wisest 
friend  many  a  youth  had  ever  had,  namely,  his 
pastor,  who  gave  him  sympathy  and  direction, 
and  he  who  before  his  conversion  had  been  averse 
to  study  developed  a  passion  to  acquire  knowl- 
edge. He  moved  his  bed  to  his  workshop,  where 
he  often  pursued  his  studies  until  one  or  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  He  kept  his  book  on  his 
bench  beside  him  while  he  worked  during  the 
day,  eagerly  conning  hard  tasks  which  he  recited 
to  his  pastor  in  the  evening. 

As  a  member  of  a  praying  band,  he  exercised 
the  privilege  and  realized  the  power  of  interces- 
sory prayer.  He  expressed  and  strengthened  his 
Christian  sympathy  by  regularly  visiting  the 
sick,  and  giving  a  part  of  his  scanty  earnings  for 
their  relief. 

Friday,  June  19,  1801,  he  wrote  in  his  diary, 

^  "This  day  I  entered  with  Mr.  Laidler  to  learn 

Latin."     That  is  a  brief  statement  of  an  impor- 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  19 

tant  event,  which  bulked  large  as  a  determining 
factor  in  his  future  life. 

In  1802,  at  twenty  years  of  age,  after  a  per- 
sonal struggle,  and  notwithstanding  the  serioils 
opposition  of  his  parents,  young  Morrison  offered 
himself  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  soon 
after  left  home  to  attend  Haxton  Academy,  and 
in  1803,  after  the  death  of  his  mother,  went  to 
London  to  further  his  preparation. 

During  one  of  his  frequent  visits  to  the  British 
Museum  he  found  some  queer  old  Chinese  books. 
He  did  not  happen  upon  them;  there  is  no  room 
for  happenings,  nor  luck,  nor  chance,  nor  any 
such  thing  in  a  life  quadrated  with  the  divine 
purpose.  ^'The  steps  of  a  good  man" — that  is, 
the  details  of  his  progress — ^'the  steps  of  a  good 
man  are  ordered  by  the  Lord,  and  he  delighteth 
in  his  way."  He  found  those  Chinese  books,  and 
those  Chinese  books  found  Morrison,  just  at  the 
time  in  his  life  when  they  could  have  the  farthest 
reach  of  ministry  to  him,  and  through  him. 

He  was  greatly  interested  in  the  strange  char- 
acters, so  much  so  that  he  borrowed  from  the 
Eoyal  Society  a  manuscript  volume  which  was  an 
attempt  at  a  Latin-Chinese  Dictionary.  This  was 
cumbersome,  incomplete,  and  very  inaccurate,  but 
it  had  a  peculiar  fascination  and  suggestiveness 
for  young  Morrison,  who  was  diligently  pursuing 
his  study  of  Latin,  and  it  became  an  important 


20       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

factor  in  his  lifework.  Its  quaintness  arrested  his 
attention,  its  mysteries  teased  his  acquisitiveness, 
its  difficulties  challenged  his  persistence.  He  not 
only  studied  it  with  gi-eat  care,  but  he  found  a 
Chiijese  in  London  from  whom  he  learned  to  write 
the  Chinese  characters,  and  copied  the  dictionary 
with  great  labor. 

Morrison  persistently  exercised  the  grace  of 
prayer,  had  an  insatiable  hunger  for  learning,  a 
passion  to  save  souls,  and  a  peculiarly  affectionate 
nature  which  coveted  companionship,  but  at  fre- 
quent intervals  the  moral  desolation  of  the  Christ- 
less  nations  brought  into  the  horizon  of  his  think- 
ing the  demands  of  foreign  missionary  work. 

Before  this  assumed  the  nature  of  a  personal 
call  his  mother  exacted  a  promise  that  he  would 
never  leave  her  while  she  lived.  She,  like  his 
father,  was  a  devout  but  low-visioned  Christian, 
who  did  not  recogiiize  the  supremacy  of  God  in 
every  detail  of  life.  He  was  not  required  to  face 
the  call  until  after  she  had  entered  into  rest;  but 
when  the  problem  did  confront  him  it  was  still 
complex  and  seriously  involved.  His  father  in- 
sisted that  he  should  remain  in  Great  Britain, 
where  he  might  give  him  financial  assistance  dur- 
ing his  declining  years.  Had  Robert  been  the 
eldest  son  instead  of  the  youngest,  he  might  not 
have  disregarded  this  claim.  His  theological 
teachers  counseled  him  to  remain  at  home  because 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  2i 

he  promised  efficiency  in  soul-saving.  His  attend- 
ance at  one  of  the  Scotch  universities  was  made 
possible  and  urged  upon  him,  as  offering  a  prov- 
idential opportunity  for  ^scholarship  and  service. 
His  fiancee  refused  to  marry  him  if  he  persisted 
in  going  as  a  foreign  missionary ;  but  none  nor  all 
of  these  things  outweighed  the  claim  of  his  Lord. 
He  wrote  in  his  diary,  under  date  of  March  18, 
1803:  ''O  how  great  is  that  God  in  whom  I 
trust!  How  able  to  deliver!  ]\Iy  soul,  rest  on 
God  in  Christ,  as  thine  only  hope  and  portion.'^ 
And  to  a  friend  he  wrote,  ^'It  is  the  great  busi- 
ness of  our  lives  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God." 

May  27,  1804,  he  offered  himself  to  the  London 
Missionary  Society  for  work  in  the  foreign  field. 
After  detailing  his  conversion  and  call,  he  ex- 
pressed one  special  desire,  namely,  ^^that  God 
would  station  him  in  that  part  of  the  missionary 
field  where  the  difficulties  are  the  greatest,  and  to 
all  human  appearances  the  most  insurmountable." 

This  spirit  is  precious  to  God,  highly  appre- 
ciated among  men,  and  the  sure  token  of  great 
usefulness.  He  who  covets  immunity  from  diffi- 
culties is  bidding  for  discouragement  and  plan- 
ning for  defeat.  Any  person  can  do  an  easy  thing. 
God  is  seeking  for  men,  courageously  obedient 
men,  to  whom  he  may  intrust  his  high  commis- 
sions.    The  only  thing  in  the  whole  universe  diffi- 


22       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

cult  for  God  Almighty  to  do  is  to  find  a  man  re- 
sponsive and  thoroughly  loyal,  willing  to  meet 
the  full  responsibilities  of  a  man,  faithfully  obe^ 
dient  to  divine  direction.  Sometimes  it  requires 
two  or  three  centuries  to  find  such  a  man;  but 
when  he  does  find  one,  and  the  divine  purpose  has 
opportunity  to  manifest  itself  through  human  obe- 
dience, God's  plans  unfold  as  silently  as  thought 
and  as  irresistibly  as  destiny. 

The  committee  of  the  London  Missionary  So- 
ciety accepted  of  Morrison — of  course  it  would — 
and  purposed  to  send  him  to  Africa.  He  desired 
to  go  to  Africa,  as  Livingstone  desired  to  go  to 
China,  but  the  wisest  man  cannot  predetermine 
where  his  life  will  count  for  the  most.  Joseph 
would  not  have  chosen  Egyptian  bondage,  nor  Paul 
the  Philippian  jail  nor  Roman  prison,  nor  John 
the  stone  quarries  on  Patmos.  In  working  out 
his  plans  God  reserves  to  himself  alone  the  ad- 
justment of  his  servants,  and  assigns  them  with 
unerring  wisdom. 

If  a  soul  will  be  thoroughly  faithful  to  God, 
God  will  bring  it  off  more  than  conqueror,  and 
neither  incompetence  nor  malevolence  can  mis- 
place that  soul,  nor  so  circumscribe  its  opportuni- 
ties as  to  make  impossible  its  most  efficient  serv- 
ice. To  such  a  one  a  prison  is  but  the  vestibule 
to  the  throne,  indignities  the  precursors  of  exalta- 
tion, and  crucifixion  a  prelude  to  ascension,  for  the 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  23 

command  is.  ^'Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord; 
trust  also  in  him ;  and  he  shall  hring  it  to  pass." 

By  peculiar  providences,  which  were  not  under- 
stood, but  which  proved  conclusive,  the  commit- 
tee was  led  to  assign  Morrison  to  China.  This  he 
accepted  as  providential.  Certainly  it  was  in 
alignment  with  his  expressed  desire  for  the  most 
impossible  field  on  earth.  Protestantism  had  not 
attempted  to  evangelize  that  vast  empire,  and  one 
faces  the  difficulties  of  a  proposition  at  their  maxi- 
mum where  he  has  had  no  predecessor.  Morrison 
undertook  the  mission  with  a  clearly  defined  pur- 
pose to  accomplish  four  things  in  particular:  to 
master  the  language ;  to  construct  a  grammar ;  to 
compile  a  dictionary;  to  translate  the  Bible,  so 
that  the  Chinese  could  have  access  to  the  Word 
of  God,  and  Protestant  missionaries  could  have 
access  to  the  Chinese.  The  difficulties  which  con- 
fronted him  in  this  work  were  far  beyond  our 
thorough  understanding.  Among  many  others 
there  were  four,  any  one  of  which  seemed  to  make 
it  impossible: 

1.  The  language ;  its  bulk  and  detail,  its  subtle 
distinctions  and  intricate  relations  had  baffled  the 
cupidity  of  tradesmen,  the  ingenuity  of  scholars, 
and  the  zeal  of  ecclesiastics.  It  was  confidently 
asserted  no  European  could  master  it.  During 
the  hundred  and  forty  years  preceding,  about 
five  hundred  Roman  Catholic  missioners  had  been 


24       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

sent  to  and  resided  in  China,  many  of  them 
skilled  in  philology,  and  one  of  their  own  chroni- 
clers said,  "E'ot  one  of  them  could  use  the  Chinese 
language  so  as  to  be  intelligible  to  the  Chinese." 
A  Jesuit  missionary  schooled  in  linguistic  studies, 
who  had  persistently  struggled  with  its  problems, 
is  on  record  as  saying,  ^^The  language  is  an  inven- 
tion of  the  devil,  made  to  keep  the  gospel  out  of 
China.''  The  language  is  monosyllabic,  and  was 
said  to  have  60,000  characters.  That  was  a  mis- 
take; it  has  only  24,235  separate  and  distinct  char- 
acters, and  something  over  20,000  modifications 
of  these.  We  know  the  difficulty  of  learning 
twenty-six  characters,  and,  I  doubt  not,  I  am 
speaking  to  persons  who  cannot  tell  b  from  d  ex- 
cept from  the  context. 

2.  The  Chinese  were  prohibited  by  law  from 
teaching  their  language,  or  ever  selling,  bartering, 
or  giving  a  Chinese  book  to  a  foreigner,  under 
penalty  of  death. 

3.  'No  Englishman  was  permitted  to  reside  in 
China  unless  he  were  actively  engaged  in  com- 
merce, and  then  only  in  Canton. 

4.  The  East  India  Company,  by  act  of  Parlia- 
ment, had  charge  of  all  matters  pertaining  to  Eng- 
land in  Eastern  Asia,  and  would  not  consent  under 
any  condition  that  a  missionary  from  England 
should  reside  in  Eastern  Asia,  or  even  have  pas- 
sage in  an  English  vessel  to  any  Asiatic  port. 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  25 

These  obstacles  did  not  daunt  Morrison's  cour- 
age, nor  jostle  his  determination  in  the  least.  In 
him  was  a  triunity  of  forces  which  were  so  con- 
sequentially related  each  to  the  others  that  they 
worked  to  a  unity  of  result  and  assured  success. 
He  had  a  great  purpose;  he  had  a  great  faith;  he 
had  a  great  God.  A  great  God  is  necessary  to  a 
great  faith.  We  may  speak  of  our  God  as  Love, 
Omnipotent,  Omniscient,  Omnipresent,  but  if  to 
any  extent  whatever  we  discount  these  limitless 
attributes,  to  that  same  extent  we  depreciate  our 
God  and  emasculate  our  faith.  Morrison's  great 
faith  linked  his  great  purpose  to  his  great  God, 
and  made  success  as  certain  as  that  high  noon  will 
follow  earliest  dawn. 

The  Missionary  Society  made  repeated  and  per- 
sistent effort  to  find  at  least  one  companion  to 
accompany  Mr.  Morrison  on  his  exceptionally 
lonely  and  difficult  mission,  but  signally  failed, 
being  prevented  by  unexpected  providences  in 
every  attempt. 

Application  was  made  to  the  East  India  Com- 
pany to  let  Mr.  Morrison  take  passage  in  a  vessel 
destined  for  India,  China,  or  any  of  the  islands  of 
the  East.  They  refused.  Every  possible  pressure 
was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  agents  of  the  com- 
pany, moral,  social,  political,  but  to  no  avail. 
Their  refusal  was  peremptory,  and  they  would 
not  consent  under  any  condition  to  further  con- 


26      GROWTH  OB^  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

sider  the  request.  Their  commercial  spirit  and 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  were  so  essentially  an- 
tagonistic that  they  could  have  no  fellowship,  and 
they  would  prevent  by  anticipation  the  complica- 
tions sure  to  arise  by  excluding  all  Christian  mis- 
sionaries from  the  possibility  of  preaching  God's 
Word  in  the  field  they  were  exploiting.  The  plan 
of  the  Missionary  Society  seemed  thwarted,  but 
God's  plans  have  a  wider  sweep  in  their  outwork- 
ing than  the  thinking  of  men ;  his  world  is  broad, 
and  somewhere  among  its  many  agencies  is  one 
prepared,  commissioned,  waiting,  eager  to  serve 
his  purpose. 

On  January  28,  1807,  Morrison  wrote  in  his 
diary,  ^^Enable  me  to  encourage  myself  in  thee, 
my  God,"  and  in  the  early  afternoon  of  the  31st 
he  went  on  board  the  Remittance,  and  sailed  from 
Gravesend  for  New  York,  but  the  ship  was  de- 
tained for  some  time  in  the  Downs,  waiting  for  a 
favorable  wind. 

"On  the  night  of  Tuesday,  February  17,  a  vio- 
lent gale  sprung  up,  which  occasioned  immense 
devastation  among  the  shipping,  so  that  ouit  of  a 
large  fleet  which  was  anchored  in  the  Downs,  a 
number  of  vessels  went  on  shore,  some  sunk,  and 
the  Remittance  was  the  only  one  that  was  able  to 
pursue  her  voyage,"  and  Morrison  arrived  safely 
at  New  York  April  20,  having  been  at  sea  one 
hundred  and  nine  days. 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  27 

Mr.  Madison,  secretary  of  state  under  President 
Thomas  Jefferson,  gave  Mr.  Morrison,  while  in 
this  country,  a  letter  to  Mr.  Carringtou,  United 
States  consul  at  Canton,  in  which  Mr.  Madison 
wrote  to  our  consul,  ^^Do  all  that  you  can  consist- 
ently with  the  interests  of  your  country  to  further 
Mr.  Morrison's  designs." 

Mr.  Morrison  sailed  from  l^ew  York  in  the 
Trident  May  12,  and  arrived  at  Canton  September 
7,  1807.  He  was  received  with  great  kindness  by 
the  United  States  consul,  occupied  for  a  time  a 
room  in  his  home,  as  his  guest,  and,  presumably 
as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  United  States  consul,  he  was  permitted 
to  remain.  ^'All  things  work  together  for  good 
to  them  .  .  .  who  are  the  called  according  to  his 
purpose.''  The  inability  of  Morrison  to  reach 
China  in  an  English  vessel,  and  the  necessity  for 
him  to  sail  in  a  United  States  vessel,  made  it  pos- 
sible for  him  to  remain  when  he  did  arrive;  for 
had  it  been  known  that  he  was  an  English  sub- 
ject, he  would  have  been  compelled  to  leave  China 
by  the  return  vessel. 

The  first  apparent  impossibility  was  overcome; 
Morrison  was  in  China,  and  the  obstacles  which 
blocked  his  path  secured  to  him  an  abundant  en- 
trance through  the  enforced  circumstances  of  his 
arrival. 

The  expense  incident  to  his  entertainment  at 


28       GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

the  United  States  consul's,  and  the  limitations 
upon  the  use  of  his  time,  led  Morrison  to  change 
his  quarters,  and  Mr.  Milnor,  a  United  States 
merchant  and  shipper,  shared  his  rooms  with  him 
in  the  French  Factory  until  he  found  other  ac- 
commodations. 

The  next  difficulty  was  to  secure  the  services  of 
a  competent  teacher.  'No  European  knew  the 
Chinese  language;  it  was  impossible  to  find  a 
Chinese  who  knew  any  English  other  than  that 
used  by  the  traders  and  their  hangers-on.  Usually 
that  is  too  ejaculatory  and  inverted  to  be  of  ready 
service  to  a  theologian.  Any  attempt  to  teach  the 
langiiage  to  a  foreigner,  or  even  to  furnish  a  for- 
eigner with  a  Chinese  book,  was  punishable  with 
death.  But  no  emergency  can  arise  in  the  service 
of  God  which  he  has  not  anticipated. 

In  the  year  1581,  two  hundred  and  one  years 
before  Morrison  was  born,  Roman  Catholicism 
was  introduced  into  China  by  ^latteo  Recci.  That 
was  not  the  first  attempt  of  the  Roman  Catholics 
to  establish  themselves  there.  About  1293  they 
had  made  an  effort,  which,  however,  they  aban- 
doned; but  in  1581  Matteo  Recci  made  the  at- 
tempt w^hich  has  been  followed  by  continued  effort 
and  results.  He  accompanied  ecclesiastical  func- 
tions with  great  pomp,  permitted  ancestral  wor- 
ship, substituted  for  the  idolatry  he  found,  Mary- 
olatry,   a  form  of   idolatry  which   appeals  more 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  29 

subtly  to  human  pride,  and  thus  made  consider- 
able headway. 

Shortly  after  Morrison  was  born  some  Roman 
Catholic  priests  at  Peking  took  into  their  service 
a  Chinese  lad,  to  whom  they  taught  the  Latin  lan- 
guage through  many  years  with  great  carefulness. 
He  was  five  years  Morrison's  senior,  and  his  name 
was  Abel  Yun.  These  two  lads,  Morrison  and 
Yun,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  world,  one  in  Eng- 
land and  the  other  in  far  Cathay,  were  studying 
the  Latin  language  at  the  same  time.  They  were 
unconscious  of  each  other's  existence,  though  to  be 
providentially  related  in  the  outworking  of  God's 
plan. 

Yun  was  doubtless  the  only  man  in  the  whole 
world  who  could  really  serve  Morrison  in  realiz- 
ing his  jDurpose,  and  he  was  a  Chinese,  a  Roman 
Catholic,  in  Peking,  and  Morrison  did  not  know 
of  his  existence.  But  about  the  time  Morrison 
landed  in  Canton  Abel  Yun  arrived  in  the  same 
city,  having  been  sent  as  their  agent  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  missioners  from  Peking. 

Sir  George  Thomas  Staunton,  president  of  the 
Select  Committee  of  the  East  India  Company  in 
China,  secured  this  Roman  Catholic  Chinese  from 
Peking,  to  whom  the  Latin  language  had  been 
taught  with  such  exactness,  as  teacher  for  Mr. 
Morrison,  the  Protestant  missionary  direct  from 
England  via  the  United  States.     The  schedule  by 


30      GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

which  Philip  and  the  eunuch  met  in  the  "way 
which  was  desert'^  was  to  the  schedule  by  which 
Morrison  and  Yun  met  in  Canton  as  the  schedule 
of  a  suburban  electric  car  to  that  of  a  transcon- 
tinental limited  express.  But  both  were  alike 
exact,  for  nothing  is  complex  with  God,  who 
"knoweth  the  end  from  the  beginning.''  Abel  Yun 
was  not  indifferent  to  the  penalty  which  attached 
to  his  work,  and  he  always  carried  poison  on  his 
person,  that  by  a  speedy  death  he  might  escape 
the  torture  to  which  he  would  have  been  subjected 
if  apprehended. 

Morrison  was  familiar  with  the  Vulgate,  or 
Latin  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  had  his 
copy  of  the  manuscript  Latin-Chinese  Dictionary 
which  he  had  transcribed  in  London  with  such 
painstaking  labor.  Incomplete  and  inaccurate  as 
the  old  curiosity  was,  it  had  a  striking  signifi- 
cance, and  was  immensely  important,  in  view  of 
the  careful  instruction  which  both  he  and  Yun 
had  received  in  the  Latin  language.  With  divine 
thoughtfulness  and  infinite  patience  God  goes  be- 
fore his  humblest  servants,  and  always  places 
within  their  reach  the  factors  essential  to  success. 
Blessed  is  he  who  is  faithful  in  occupying  his  op- 
portunities. 

Morrison  and  the  one  man  in  all  the  world  most 
capable  to  serve  as  his  helper  were  together  in 
China,  and  the  second  apparently  insurmountable 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  31 

difficulty  had  been  leveled  at  his  feet,  for  nothing 
is  impossible  to  God. 

Mr.  Morrison  secured  two  small  rooms  in  a 
"godown/'  or  cellar.  They  were  poorly  lighted 
and  badly  ventilated,  but  were  the  best  he  could 
get.  In  them  he  ate  and  slept,  studied  and  exer- 
cised, prayed  and  grew.  He  imitated  the  Chinese 
in  dress  and  manner  of  living,  as  a  precaution 
against  detection,  and  for  inexpensiveness.  Under 
the  circumstances,  a  wife  or  any  English  com- 
panion would  have  complicated  his  problem,  and 
been  disastrous  at  this  state  of  its  development. 
The  things  which  God  withholds  are  ofttimes  the 
least  appreciated,  but  among  the  most  gracious 
and  necessary  of  his  providences. 

The  impure  air,  unusual  food,  insufficient 
light,  close  confinement,  and  severe  application 
seriously  impaired  Morrison's  health,  so  that  he 
was  threatened  with  loss  of  sight,  and  a  complete 
breakdown,  and  he  wrote  in  his  diary,  ^'I  only 
fear  that  I  may  injure  my  health  by  excessive  ap- 
plication, and  manifest  thereby  a  culpable  want 

of  patience.'' 

His  progress  in  the  language  was  remarkable, 
and  after  a  few  months  he  commenced  the  pub- 
lication of  occasional  tracts.  The  East  India 
Company  employees  disliked  these  tracts;  they 
recalled  early  memories  and  prodded  their  con- 
sciences, so  they  protested  that  if  they  continued 


32       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

to  be  issued,  Chinese  relations  with  all  foreigners 
might  become  seriously  strained. 

In  the  year  1808  China  issued  an  imperial  edict 
banishing  from  Canton  all  foreigners  who  were 
not  actually  engaged  in  commerce.  With  im- 
paired eyesight  and  broken  health,  Morrison 
needed  a  change,  and  was  compelled  to  go,  but 
^vhere  could  a  place  be  found  in  which  he  might 
continue  the  Lord's  work  ?  God  is  never  taken 
by  surprise.  ^'The  young  lions  do  lack  and  suffer 
hunger:  but  they  that  seek  the  Lord  shall  not 
want  any  good  thing." 

In  1516,  tAVO  hundred  and  ninety-two  years  be- 
fore this  imperial  edict  was  issued,  a  Portuguese 
navigator,  Rafel  Perestello,  sailed  along  the  east 
coast  of  Asia.  He  was  the  first  person  to  conduct 
a  European  vessel  to  Chinese  waters.  In  1537 
the  Portuguese  began  a  settlement  on  Macao,  an 
island  ninety  miles  from  Canton,  and  afterward 
acquired  the  southern  part  of  the  island.  It  rises 
abruptly  out  of  the  sea,  with  its  air  tempered  by 
the  ocean  breezes,  and  as  a  sanatarium  is  unex- 
celled in  all  the  Orient.  The  desire  of  the  East 
India  Company  employees  to  get  rid  of  Morrison 
and  his  tracts,  and  this  nearby  and  exceptionally 
healthy  Portuguese  possession,  combined  in  sug- 
gesting relief  for  his  impaired  eyesight  and  over- 
strained health;  but  such  was  Morrison's  devo- 
tion to  his  work  that  the  issuance  of  this  imperial 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  33 

edict,  banishing  him  from  China,  was  necessary 
before  he  would  go  to  the  sanatarium;  and  the 
edict  was  issued.  I  imagine  when  that  island 
emerged  from  the  ocean,  or  the  ocean  receded 
from  its  rocky  sides,  God,  who  ^^delights  to  be  gra- 
cious" and  is  "the  God  of  deliverances,"  looked 
upon  it  with  special  satisfaction,  and  possibly 
smiled  in  his  pleasure,  because  it  was  to  be  such  a 
surprise  and  help  to  his  devoted  servant  at  this 
crisis  in  his  mission. 

At  Macao  he  found  refuge  and  recuperation. 
With  unflagging  diligence,  renewed  strength,  and 
loving  devotion,  he  applied  himself  to  his  task 
with  increasing  energy,  and  his  progress  in  master- 
ing the  language  was  extraordinary. 

There  is  nothing  too  insignificant  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  Him  who  pencils  the  wild  flowers, 
scents  the  breezes,  and  notes  the  sparrow's  fall. 
Some  English  sailors,  in  a  drunken  carousal  while 
on  the  island  of  Macao,  killed  a  Chinaman.  What 
had  that  to  do  with  the  coming  of  the  kingdom? 
Considerable.  The  prosecution  of  the  kingdom 
through  all  human  affairs  is  the  one  business  of 
God  in  this  world,  and  "he  maketh  the  wrath  of 
man  to  praise  him." 

The  sailors  were  placed  on  trial  before  a  Chi- 
nese official,  and  were  being  disadvantaged  be- 
cause their  counsel  did  not  understand  the  intri- 
cacies of  the  Chinese  language,  and  no  foreigner 


34       GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

was  known  who  did.  Morrison,  who  dropped  in  at 
the  hearing,  seeing  that  some  of  his  countrymen, 
though  seriously  at  fault,  were  not  having  a  fair 
statement  or  consideration  of  their  case,  volun- 
teered his  services  as  an  interpreter,  and  he 
created  a  great  sensation  by  his  comprehensive 
knowledge  and  correct  use  of  both  the  mandarin 
and  common  dialect.  It  was  a  revelation  and 
an  astonishment  to  both  Chinese  and  Europeans. 
That  Chinese  yaman  furnished  the  background, 
and  the  deed  of  death,  done  in  the  frenzy  of  drink, 
furnished  the  dark  lines,  which  brought  out  in 
high  light  Morrison's  exceptional  attainments  and 
simplicity  of  character. 

As  his  health  improved  he  issued  tracts  more 
frequently,  and  published  selected  portions  of  the 
Bible.  Paul  says  the  gospel  is  the  power  of  God — • 
that  is,  the  ^^dunamis,"  the  dynamite  of  God — • 
"unto  salvation."  Morrison's  publication  of  por- 
tions of  the  Bible  excited  renewed  and  increased 
opposition.  The  Chinese  and  East  India  Com- 
pany employees  were  joined  by  the  Portuguese 
Roman  Catholics  in  their  protest  against  Bible 
publication  and  Christian  teaching,  and  it  seemed 
that  Morrison  would  be  forced  to  leave  Macao, 
and  his  work  be  seriously  interrupted. 

During  his  residence  at  Macao  Mr.  Morrison 
met,  wooed,  and  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  an 
English  lady.  Miss  Morton,     You  may  ask  how 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  35 

came  he  to  find  a  wife  in  that  country.  Why  not  ? 
That  was  where  his  work  was,  and  it  is  written, 
"E^o  good  thing  will  God  withhold  from  them  that 
walk  uprightly."  Again  it  is  written,  ^'Whoso 
findeth  a  wife  findeth  a  good  thing,  and  obtaineth 
favor  of  the  Lord."  It  is  also  written,  "The  eyes 
of  the  Lord  run  to  and  fro  throughout  the  whole 
earth  to  show  himself  strong  in  the  behalf  of  them 
whose  heart  is  perfect  toward  him."  God  had  a 
.friend  once  who  had  no  wife ;  in  fact,  at  that  time 
there  was  no  woman  in  all  the  world  for  him  to 
marry ;  and  the  Lord  said,  "It  is  not  good  that  the 
man  should  be  alone,"  so  the  Lord  created  a  wife 
for  Adam,  and  "he  is  no  respecter  of  persons." 
Many  a  man  would  be  more  happily  mated  and 
more  efficient  in  his  ministry  if  his  wife  had  been 
of  the  Lord's  providing,  and  many  a  woman  would 
have  lar^e  increase  of  usefulness  and  greater  joy 
if  the  adjustment  of  her  heart  life  had  been  di- 
rected by  God  instead  of  being  determined  by  ex- 
pediency. 

Morrison  thought  he  gave  up  a  wife  for  the 
Lord  when  he  consented  to  go  to  China,  but  that 
was  one  who  was  not  in  sympathy  with  his  life- 
work,  and  when  a  wife  would  have  made  impos- 
sible his  mission.  When  a  wife  would  increase 
his  efficiency  the  Lord  provided  him  with  one  who 
shared  his  labors  and  blessed  his  toil.  It  was 
arranged   that   the   evening   after   the    marriage, 


86      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

February  20,  1809,  he  and  his  bride  should  sail 
for  Penang,  an  island  under  the  authority  of  the 
Dutch,  where,  unmolested  by  Chinese,  East  India 
Company  employees,  or  Portuguese  Roman  Cath- 
olics, he  might  do  the  best  he  could  until  matters 
in  China  were  more  favorable  to  him  and  his  work. 
The  Lord  never  gives  a  wife  without  providing 
for  the  housekeeping,  and  He  who  placed  Adam 
and  Eve  in  Eden  planned  differently  for  Morri- 
son and  his  bride. 

December  31,  1600,  Queen  Elizabeth  granted 
a  charter  to  ^^The  Governor  and  Company  of  Mer- 
chants of  London  trading  to  the  East  Indies.'' 
For  two  hundred  and  eight  years  the  East  India 
Company,  under  various  names,  combinations,  and 
charter  modifications,  had  amassed  wealth  and  in- 
creased its  influence  until  it  came,  by  authority  of 
Parliament,  to  represent  Great  Britain  in  the 
East.  It  paid  its  president  $100,000  annually. 
Its  power  was  almost  absolute.  It  dictated  poli- 
cies to  governments  and  defied  opposition.  Its 
ramifications  extended  far  and  wide  in  all  direc- 
tions. Such  were  its  varied,  delicate,  and  intri- 
cate relations  with  the  Chinese  government  that 
it  was  continually  in  danger  of  embarrassment 
from  want  of  an  exact  and  comprehensive  under- 
standing of  their  language  and  customs  and  a 
clear  insight  into  their  character.  Morrison  had 
acquired   these  more   accurately  than   any  other 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  37 

man  in  the  whole  world,  and  had  given  a  sample 
of  his  acquirements  at  the  trial  of  the  drunken 
sailors.  The  morning  of  the  very  day  he  was  to 
be  married,  after  his  books  and  possessions  were 
on  the  vessel,  and  ready  to  sail  for  Penang  when 
the  marriage  ceremony  had  been  performed,  Mor- 
rison was  offered,  and  urged  to  accept,  the  posi- 
tion of  interpreter  to  the  East  India  Company. 
They  assured  him  limited  hours  of  service  and  a 
salary  of  £500,  or  $2,500,  per  year.  They  were^ 
urgent  in  their  tender  of  the  position,  and  he  ac- 
cepted it,  and  from  that  time  he  relieved  the  Mis- 
sionary Society  from  supporting  him.  As  an 
officer  of  the  great  East  India  Company  he  could 
command  everything  necessary  for  prosecuting  his 
study  of  the  language,  was  intrenched  by  the 
power  Avhich  would  have  prevented  his  arrival, 
and  the  third  apparent  impossibility  became  his 
ally. 

While  he  was  faithful  and  efficient  in  his  office, 
he  was  increasingly  successful  in  his  loved  mis- 
sion. He  continued  the  translation  of  the  Bible, 
and  printed  various  portions  from  time  to  time. 
He  prosecuted  his  work  on  his  grammar,  and 
pushed  the  preparation  of  his  dictionary.  He 
published  a  catechism,  and  continued  to  issue 
tracts. 

In  1813  the  Portuguese  Eoman  Catholic 
bishop  of  Macao  issued  an  anathema  against  any 


38       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

one  who  communicated  with  Mr.  Morrison,  re- 
ceived his  publications,  or  supplied  him  with 
hooks.  The  Chinese  government  became  dis- 
turbed and  issued  an  edict  prohibiting  the  teach- 
ing of  Christianity,  and,  not  being  able  to  reach 
Mr.  Morrison,  it  expelled  four  Roman  Catholics 
from  the  empire. 

The  East  India  Company,  recognizing  that  this 
opposition  focused  about  Morrison,  warned  him 
to  desist  from  his  Christian  work,  or  they  would 
have  to  get  some  one  else  to  fill  his  position.  He 
assured  the  Company  their  service  was  but  inci- 
dental to  his  great  work,  and  under  no  conditions 
would  he  compromise  his  mission.  They  could 
find  no  one  else  so  capable  or  faithful,  and  re- 
tained him  in  their  employ  until  his  death  in 
1834,  and  increased  his  salary  to  $5,000.  If  a 
person  will  adhere  loyally  and  simply  to  his  di- 
vinely appointed  work,  and  become  an  expert  in 
the  thing  which  God  assigns  him,  he  need  have  no 
anxiety  as  to  his  opportunity,  for  it  is  written, 
^^No  weapon  that  is  formed  against  thee  shall  pros- 
per; and  every  tongue  that  shall  rise  against  thee 
in  judgment  thou  shall  condemn.  This  is  the 
heritage  of  the  servants  of  the  Lord." 

After  eight  years  of  incessant  application  he 
had  his  grammar  ready  for  publication.  The 
East  India  Company  examined  the  manuscript, 
and  found  it  so  thorough  and  simple  that  they 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  39 

asked  the  privilege  of  printing  it  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, which  was  done  at  their  agency  in  India,  in 
1815. 

In  1819,  after  twelve  years  of  persistent  toil, 
he  completed  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  it 
was  printed  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  So- 
ciety. All  the  leading  institutions  of  Europe  vied 
with  each  other  to  honor  him.  He  had  been  buried 
in  his  work,  and  he  realized  the  resurrection  of 
achievement.  There  is  no  resurrection  to  the 
larger  life  without  death  to  the  world  and  its 
allurements. 

In  1823,  after  sixteen  years  of  persistent  labor, 
his  dictionary  was  ready  for  the  press.  He  had 
accumulated  and  absorbed  ten  thousand  Chinese 
books  in  its  preparation.  Again  the  East  India 
Company  examined  the  manuscript  and  asked  the 
privilege  of  printing  it,  which  they  did,  having 
the  plates  engraved  and  the  book  issued  by  their 
agency  in  India,  so  as  not  unnecessarily  to  an- 
tagonize Chinese  prejudice.  It  cost  them  $60,000, 
but  they  had  collected  for  Caesar  the  things  which 
were  Caesar's,  and,  according  to  an  irrevocable 
law,  they  were  rendering  unto  God  the  things 
which  were  God's,  by  making  accessible  to  the  mis- 
sionaries facilities  foi  extending  the  kingdom  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

Friday,  January  30,  1807,  the  night  before 
Morrison  embarked  for  China  via  ISTew  York,  he 


40       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

preached  to  a  little  company  of. his  friends  from 
^^Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled;  ye  believe  in 
God,  believe  also  in  me,"  and,  walking  confidently 
with  God,  as  his  providence  appointed,  his  every 
step  was  going  from  strength  to  strength  to- 
ward vantage  ground  which  made  possible  larger 
achievements  till  he  realized  complete  success  in 
the  problem  assigned  him.  With  a  strain  upon 
his  filial  affection,  he  had  refused  his  father's  en- 
treaties to  abide  at  home,  that  he  might  aid  the 
family  financially,  but  from  his  liberal  and  unan- 
ticipated salary  he  rendered  more  substantial  as- 
sistance during  his  father's  declining  years. 

The  learning  he  acquired  in  China  was  more  in- 
tensive and  constructive  than  though  he  had 
mastered  the  courses  in  the^  Scotch  university,  and 
attained  the  position  of  its  chief  professor.  His 
contribution  to  the  evangelization  of  the  world  has 
been  more  productive  than  it  could  have  been  if 
confined  in  the  British  Isles.  He  was  denied  mar- 
riage to  one  whose  want  of  sympathy  with  God's 
purpose  for  him  would  have  prevented  success, 
and  at  a  time  when  any  woman  must  have  been 
a  hindrance  rather  than  a  help  to  his  peculiar 
mission;  but  at  the  proper  time  was  given  a  wife 
in  the  land  of  his  appointed  labor,  who  contributed 
to  his  efficiency. 

These  were  but  a  small  part  of  the  all  things 
working    together    for    good — some    of    the    by- 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  41 

products,  mere  incidentals  to  the  achievement  of 
his  lifework — and  nothing  proved  impossible  as 
he  pursued  his  divinely  appointed  mission  because 
an  unquestioning  faith  identified  him  with  the 
great  God,  who  promises  to  withhold  no  good  thing 
from,  and  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  all  things 
with,  ^^those  who  are  called  according  to  his  pur- 
pose." 

China  furnished  the  problem.  England  grew 
the  man,  mingling  Scotch  persistence  and  ISTorth- 
umbrian  simplicity.  Christianity  supplied  the 
ideal,  motive,  and  inspiration.  The  British 
Museum  furnished  suggestions,  and  stimulated 
thoughts  about  China.  The  Royal  Society  loaned 
the  rudimentary  Latin  Dictionary.  Commerce 
brought  Yong  San  to  London,  who  taught  him  to 
write  the  Chinese  character.  The  Latin  served  as 
a  means  of  communication  with  his  teacher  and  an 
introduction  to  the  Chinese  language.  The  Lon- 
don Missionary  Society — an  organization  of  dis- 
senters outside  the  Established  Church — provided 
initial  support  and  unfailing  sympathy.  The 
United  States  contributed  his  transportation,  and 
secured  his  preliminary  residence  in  Canton. 
Roman  Catholicism  unintentionally  prepared  his 
teacher,  and  afterward  excommunicated  him. 
The  Portuguese  conserved  his  health  by  reluc- 
tantly affording  him  an  admirable  sanatarium.  A 
sailors'  carousal  and  the  Chinese  yaman  brought 


42       GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

into  favorable  notice  his  extraordinary  acquire- 
ments. The  East  India  Company  selfishly  in- 
trenched him  in  their  service,  supplied  the  finance 
for  maintenance,  books,  and  assistance,  and  pub- 
lished at  great  expense  his  Chinese  grammar  and 
dictionary.  India  served  as  neutral  ground  in 
which  to  print  and  from  which  to  issue  these  pub- 
lications. The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
of  London  published  his  Chinese  translation  of 
the  Bible. 

Working  in  Morrison,  working  through  Morri- 
son, and  working  about  Morrison,  was  God,  who 
had  called  him  to  fellowship  in  opening  China  to 
missionary  activity,  and  God  scheduled  every 
necessary  influence  to  timely  cooperation  with  his 
servant,  for,  *'Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits, 
sent  forth  to  minister  for  them  who  shall  be  heirs 
of  salvation  V^ 

^ot  one  of  the  many  agencies  which  had  been 
developing  in  and  converging  from  all  quarters  of 
the  world  through  all  the  centuries  failed  to  co- 
operate as  need  required,  because  ^^the  earth  is  the 
Lord's  and  the  fullness  thereof,  the  world,  and 
they  that  dwell  therein,"  and  Morrison's  unfalter- 
ing obedience  kept  him  on  time  with  the  schedule 
of  infinite  grace.  Morrison's  life  is  not  excep- 
tional in  the  history  of  God's  kingdom,  unless  it 
be  in  the  quality  of  his  obedience.  He  simply 
classes  as  anyone  of  like  devotion  is  sure  to  class 


THE  IMPOSSIBLE  43 

with  those  "who  through  faith  wrought  righteous- 
ness, obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of 
lions,  quenched  the  power  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  from  weakness  were  made  strong, 
waxed  might j  in  war,  that  they  might  obtain  a 
better  resurrection,"  "for  with  God  nothing  shall 
be  impossible,"  and  it  is  written,  "If  ye  have 
faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  .  .  .  nothing 
shall  be  impossible  unto  you." 


II 

THE  IMPROBABLE 


45 


For  as  the  rain  cometh  down,  and  the  snow  from 
heaven,  and  returneth  not  thither,  but  watereth  the 
earth,  and  maketh  it  bring  forth  and  bud,  and  giveth 
seed  to  the  sower,  and  bread  to  the  eater:  so  shall  my 
word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth:  it  shall  not 
return  unto  me  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish  that  which 
I  please,  and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I 
sent  it. — Isaiah. 

Jesus  came  to  them  and  spake  unto  them,  saying.  All 
authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on 
earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the 
nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit:  teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you:  and 
lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world. — Matthew. 


46 


II 

THE  IMPKOBABLE 

The  curve  in  a  line  cannot  be  determined  by 
a  single  point,  but  from  a  series  of  related  points 
its  trend  may  be  calculated,  and  if  a  circle,  its 
radius,  sweep,  and  area  accurately  figured.  So 
a  single  fact  in  history,  or  an  isolated  providence 
of  God,  may  not  have  much  significance,  but  when 
considered  consequentially  in  connection  with  its 
causes  and  results  it  may  suggest  with  unerring 
accuracy  both  trend  and  outcome. 

To  him  who  reads  history  as  a  catalogue  of  un- 
related events  the  ultimate  triumph  of  righteous- 
ness seems  very  improbable,  because  he  fails  to 
perceive  that  ^'Through  the  ages  one  unceasing 
purpose  runs" ;  that  the  providences  of  God  are 
anticipative,  corrective,  cumulative,  always  articu- 
lated with  his  unchanging  purpose,  and  make  for 
righteousness  ;  that  history  is  but  prophecy  in  proc- 
ess of  fulfillment;  that  ^'Christ  is  either  Lord  of 
all,  or  not  Lord  at  all" ;  and  that  which  Christ  has 
pledged  himself  to  accomplish  is  surely  coming 
to  pass.  ^^History  is  mystery  unless  read  as  his 
story." 

In  the  year  1823,  the  same  year  that  Morrison 
47 


48      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

completed  his  dictionary  of  the  Chinese  language, 
a  child  was  born  in  the  State  of  'New  York,  and 
named  Judson  Dwight  Collins.  I  know  not  how 
far  the  name  he  bore  influenced  the  development 
of  the  lad's  ideals  and  convictions,  nor  how  far 
it  interpreted  the  atmosphere  of  his  home,  but  it 
has  a  missionary  flavor  which  is  very  suggestive. 

While  he  was  yet  a  child  his  parents  moved  to 
Ann  Arbor,  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  and  in  the 
winter  of  1837-38,  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age,  an  event  occurred  in  the  life  of  young  Collins 
which  was  of  transcendent  importance  for  time 
and  eternity.  Under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  E. 
H.  Pilcher,  Collins  was  converted.  Do  you  appre- 
ciate what  being  converted  means  ?  It  means  be- 
ing changed ;  it  means  being  transformed  by  the 
incoming  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  it  means  being  made 
a  partaker  of  the  nature  of  God,  so  that  he  who 
is  converted  loves  as  God  loves,  and  hates  what 
God  hates,  seeks  the  things  God  seeks,  and  resists 
the  things  God  resists. 

The  conversion  of  young  Collins  was  thorough, 
like  that  of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  and  when  the  power 
of  God  came  upon  him  he  was  regenerated  in  the 
likeness  of  God.  He  became  a  replica  of  the  in- 
carnation, and  shared  with  Christ  his  divine 
hunger  for  souls  which  grew  with  his  growth  and 
strengthened  with  his  strength. 

For  years  he  had  a  clearly  defined  conviction 


THE  IMPROBABLE  49 

that  it  was  his  duty  to  go  to  China  as  a  mission- 
ary. This  was  suggested  not  from  without  but 
from  within.  It  was  strengthened  not  by  manifest 
opportunity  but  by  a  growing  sense  of  its  neces- 
sity. It  did  not  reflect  an  insistent  popular  de- 
mand but  interpreted  his  passion  to  make  Christ 
known,  his  spirit  of  sacrifice,  and  his  personal 
commission.  This  became  the  central  hope  and 
controlling  purpose  of  his  life. 

The  University  of  Michigan,  which  had  been 
planned  in  1817,  established  by  law  in  1837,  and 
located  at  Ann  Arbor,  was  opened  to  students 
September,  1842,  just  as  Collins  was  eager  and 
ready  for  college  training,  and  he  entered  with 
the  first  class,  seeking  equipment  for  the  service 
to  which  he  had  consecrated  himself. 

He  wrote  of  his  aspiration  to  Dr.  Durbin,  secre- 
tary of  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  offered  himself  for  mission 
work  in  China,  to  which  Dr.  Durbin  replied,  ^^The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  no  work  in  that 
land,  and  China  is  not  open  to  missionaries.'' 
Collins  knew  both  of  these  facts,  and  was  not  dis- 
couraged in  the  least  either  by  their  restatement 
or  by  the  manifest  indifference  of  the  ofiice  to  the 
plan.  He  knew  whom  he  had  trusted,  and  was 
persuaded  that  he  was  able  to  guard  that  which  he 
had  committed  unto  him,  and,  while  he  relied  upon 
God  to  develop  the  plan  by  which  he  was  to  ac- 


50      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

complish  liis  mission,  he  busied  himself  in  testing 
all  avenues  which  suggested  possible  approach. 

He  sought  an  interview  with  Bishop  Janes,  who 
gave  him  an  answer  similar  to  that  of  Dr.  Durbin 
— utterly  devoid  of  encouragement — but  that  did 
not  weaken  his  faith  nor  cause  him  to  swerve  from 
his  purpose.  On  the  contrary,  the  absence  of  ap- 
preciation in  others  made  clearer  the  necessity  for 
his  persistence,  stimulated  him  to  greater  industry 
in  preparation,  and  led  him  to  seek  closer  fellow- 
ship with  God,  the  author  and  perfecter  of  his 
faith.  He  read  diligently,  and  studied  carefully 
everything  he  could  find  concerning  China,  and 
continued  his  preparation  as  though  his  appoint- 
ment had  been  made. 

Meanwhile  changes  were  taking  place  in  the 
Celestial  Empire,  and  China  was  being  prepared 
for  the  arrival  of  the  messengers  of  Christ.  He 
who  said,  ''Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light," 
directs  his  servants  and  controls  national  condi- 
tions. Satan  may  pride  himself  in  his  assumed 
sovereignty  over  the  world,  but  it  is  beyond  his 
power  to  prevent  openings  and  demands  for  the 
incoming  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

The  cupidity  and  disregard  of  human  rights 
of  the  East  India  Company,  the  irrational  self- 
complacency  and  arrogance  of  the  Chinese,  to- 
gether with  other  abnormal  conditions,  led  to  the 
"Opium  War."      This   eventuated   in  the  treaty 

/ 


THE  IMPROBABLE  51 

with  Great  Britain  of  August  29,  1842,  by  which 
four  ports  other  than  Canton — Foochow,  Amoy, 
Ningpo,  and  Shanghai — were  opened  to  commerce. 
China's  treaty,  in  1844,  with^  this  country  ex- 
tended the  advantages  we  already  possessed,  and 
included  the  "most  favored  nation''  clause;  that 
is,  it  stipulated  that  whatever  China  should  ac- 
cord in  the  future  to  any  other  nation  should 
automatically  apply  to  the  United  States  also. 
Toleration  was  accorded  to  Christianity,  and  pro- 
tection granted  its  teachers  in  the  five  open  ports, 
by  treaty  with  France  in  1845.  For  nearly  a 
decade,  in  the  face  of  indifference,  refusal,  op- 
position, ridicule,  apparently  impossible  and 
positively  improbable  conditions,  Collins  had  been 
preparing  to  preach  Christ  to  the  Chinese  with 
as  cheerful,  persistent  industry  as  if  they  had 
been  eagerly  awaiting  his  coming;  and  the  very 
year  he  took  his  B.  A.  degree,  1845,  the  teaching 
of  Christianity  was  made  possible  by  treaty  stipu- 
lations secured  through  Roman  Catholic  France. 

Collins's  purpose,  which  had  been  unswerving 
during  the  years  of  his  preparation,  became  as- 
sertive and  irresistible  at  the  moment  of  oppor- 
tunity. He  wrote  to  Bishop  Janes,  "Engage  me  a 
place  before  the  mast,  and  my  own  strong  arm 
will  pull  me  to  China  and  support  me  while 
there."  His  zeal  became  contagious.  A  wave  of 
missionary  enthusiasm  swept  from  section  to  sec- 


52       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

tion.  Missionary  mass  meetings  were  held,  and 
missionary  societies  were  formed  in  various  places 
to  make  provision  for  teaching  the  partly  accessi- 
ble Chinese.  The  whispered  desire  which  had 
been  heard  here  and  there  within  the  church  for 
some  time  became  a  trumpet  call,  sounding  an 
immediate  advance. 

In  1847  the  first  company  of  Methodist  mis- 
sionaries sailed  for  China,  leaving  Boston  April 
15.  It  consisted  of  Judson  Dwight  Collins,  Mr. 
White,  and  Mr.  White's  young  bride.  Foochow 
was  determined  upon  as  the  center  of  their  opera- 
tions, and  they  reached  that  port,  after  a  voyage 
of  nearly  ^ve  months,  on  September  6.  What 
might  be  expected  from  the  impact  of  these  three 
lives  upon  the  400,000,000  Chinese  ?  True,  there 
were  here  and  there  a  few  other  Protest  ant  mis- 
sionaries animated  by  a  similar  purpose,  but  they 
were  isolated  by  long  distances,  and  separated  by 
diverse  ordinances,  modes  of  worship,  and  historic 
emphasis ;  so  that  there  was  but  little,  if  any,  unity 
in  their  action. 

There  were  also  some  Koman  Catholic  mission- 
aries, as  there  had  been  for  many  decades,  but 
these  had  exerted  their  influence  in  political  inter- 
ference, assumed  princely  state  and  luxury,  too 
often  disregarded  the  simplest  canons  of  virtue, 
and  so  misrepresented  Christ  as  to  make  the  name 
of  Christian  odious  wherever  they  were  known. 


THE  IMPROBABLE  53 

When  these  two  striplings  and  that  young  bride 
reached  Foochow  their  commission  was  to  preach 
Christ  crucified,  and  their  expectation  was  that 
through  the  foolishness  of  preaching  the  Chinese 
would  be  converted,  and  China  become  Chris- 
tianized. Did  you  ever  consider  Avhat  it  meant  to 
undertake  that  mission?  China  is  the  oldest  na- 
tion on  earth.  When  the  Anglo  and  Saxon  an- 
cestors of  these  missionaries  were  drinking  wassail 
from  the  skulls  of  their  enemies  slain  in  battle,  or 
had  not  differentiated  themselves  from  the  skin- 
wearing  savages  of  North  Germany,  China  had 
been  strengthening  her  organized  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  recording  history  for  millenniums. 
Before  Israel  was  called  out  of  Egyptian  bondage, 
China  had  her  philosophers,  statesmen,  poets,  and 
system  of  education,  and  her  examination  halls 
were  thronged  with  ingenious  youth.  Before 
Cadmus  founded  Thebes,  or  the  semifabulous 
Thessalian  Jason  undertook  the  legendary  Argo- 
nautic  expedition,  China  was  embodying  the  same 
principles  of  government  and  social  life  which 
obtained  when  Collins  landed  upon  her  shoresT 
More  than  a  thousand  years  before  Kome  was 
founded  China  possessed  a  well-developed  national 
life,  with  established  traditions,  far-reaching  poli- 
cies, and  recorded  history. 

Of  all  the  nations  mentioned   in  ancient  his- 
tory, or  referred  to  in  the  Bible — and  there  are 


54       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

about  seventy  of  them — China  alone  has  main- 
tained her  organized  existence  to  the  present  time. 
Ancient  Egypt  is  dead;  Edom  and  Philistia  are 
dead;  ISTineveh  is  dead;  Babylon  has  been  dead 
more  than  twenty-five  hundred  years.  'No  con- 
temporary of  her  youth,  or  witness  of  the  first  half 
of  her  unfolding  civilization,  survives  as  a  nation 
to-day.  Yet  the  land  of  Sinim  is  occupied  by  the 
same  people  who  for  centuries  had  been  directing 
her  affairs  when  Abram  was  called  to  go  out  from 
Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  ^^not  knowing  whither  he 
went."  Her  one  predominating,  assertive,  con- 
structive characteristic  is  reverence  for  the  past. 
Her  great  philosopher,  statesman,  and  teacher, 
Confucius,  "The  Uncrowned  King"  who  lived 
B.  C.  500,  styled  himself  a  "Transmitter  of  the 
past  for  the  reformation  of  the  present,"  and  all 
her  innovations  have  been  supposed  to  be  based 
upon  a  more  perfect  exegesis  of  her  ancient  clas- 
sics. Remote  antiquity  and  buried  ancestors  have 
been  the  livest  factors  in  her  development,  and, 
though  frequently  overrun  by  the  armies  of  aliens, 
her  immobility  has  conquered  her  conquerors,  com- 
pelled them  to  give  up  their  ideals  and  identity, 
and  fuse  themselves  with  her  national  life. 

In  all  their  paganism  the  Chinese  never  deified 
lust  or  vice;  in  all  their  heathenish  ways  they 
never  introduced  woman  upon  the  stage  in  their 
theaters,  never  legislated  for  a  courtesan  class,  and 


THE  IMPROBABLE  55 

have  no  legally  protected  castes  of  any  kind.  The 
art  of  printing,  the  mariner's  compass,  and  gun- 
powder were  ancient  things  in  China  when  Enrope 
first  came  to  the  knowledge  of  them. 

^Notwithstanding  her  permanence  and  conse- 
quential relations,  China  is  a  nation  of  contradic- 
tions. While,  like  their  master,  Confucius,  the 
Chinese  have  always  been  agnostics  as  to  the 
future  life,  the  ceremonies  of  ancestral  worship 
constitute  their  real  religion.  While,  like  Men- 
cius,  the  great  expounder  of  their  classics,  they 
are  materialists  in  the  essence  of  their  philosophic 
system,  they  exalt  heaven  and  earth  to  the  position 
of  deities,  and  worship  them  as  having  a  spiritual 
significance.  While  their  system  of  education  has 
produced  among  the  masses  a  compulsory  illiter- 
acy, they  have  a  universal  reverence  and  respect 
for  learning,  extending  even  to  the  characters 
which  embody  it.  While  their  central  government 
is  autocratic  in  form,  its  local  manifestations  pre- 
sent endless  variety,  with  substantial  unity  and 
practical  indestructibility. 

The  overwhelming  influence  of  her  inherent 
forces,  accentuated  by  her  comparative  isolation, 
ancestral  worship,  and  extraordinary  system  of 
education,  made  continuity  a  fundamental  char- 
acteristic of  the  Chinese  civilization,  so  that  to 
break  with  the  past  was  looked  upon  as  suicide  for 
the  nation,  and  the  uncondonable  crime  for  the 


56       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

individual.  Yet  the  one  business  of  the  mission- 
ary was  to  proclaim  a  new  object  of  worship,  a 
new  body  of  doctrine,  new  ethical  principles,  a 
new  personal  relation,  compelling  those  who  re- 
ceived it  to  assume  a  new  center  of  life  and  new 
horizons  of  activity. 

The  worship  of  ancestors,  imperatively  required 
by  "filial  piety,"  matched  the  dependence  of  the 
living  upon  the  dead  by  a  like  dependence  of  the 
dead  upon  the  living,  and  thus  unified  the  past  and 
present. 

It  has  been  said,  "Every  Englishman  is  an 
island,  and  every  American  is  a  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence" ;  so  we  may  say  that  every  Chinaman 
is  a  stolid  embodiment  of  traditions,  which  through 
forty  centuries  have  outlived  the  mutations  of 
twenty-five  dynasties.  The  ancient  and  pervasive 
doctrine  of  ancestral  worship  had  submerged  per- 
sonality in  the  family,  linked  devotion  to  the  past, 
paralyzed  initiative,  and  produced  a  deep-seated 
aversion  to  everything  which  is  new.  This  had 
strengthened  the  clannishness  of  the  Chinese,  se- 
cured to  their  government  a  stability  which  had 
resisted  all  influences  from  without,  and  registered 
four  millenniums  of  continuous  history.  The 
Chinese  prided  himself  on  his  civilization,  was 
satisfied  to  spend  his  monotonous  existence  with- 
out an  experience  or  object,  hope  or  fear,  which 
was  foreign  to  his  ancestors.  \  He  was  indifferent 


THE  IMPROBABLE  57 

to  hardship  and  poverty,  treasured  tradition  as 
his  most  valued  possession,  loyalty  to  it  being  his 
gauge  of  influence,  and  immobility  his  measure  of 
success. 

The  doctrine  which  the  missionaries  expounded, 
reiterated,  and  insisted  upon  as  essential  and  un- 
compromising, presented  the  kingdom  of  God  as 
spiritual  and  progressive,  a  kingdom  of  ideas,  of 
principles,  of  personal  emancipation,  and  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  perfect  Ideal,  the  divine  and  human 
Lawgiver  and  Judge,  Sovereign  and  Saviour,  and 
that  "there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven 
given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved.'^ 
Because  of  the  limitations  of  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage, these  doctrines,  radical  as  they  were,  could 
be  stated  but  imperfectly.  The  only  Chinese 
words  by  which  they  could  designate  sin  and  sin- 
ners meant  to  the  Chinese  crime  and  criminals. 

The  message  of  Christianity  is  to  the  individ- 
ual ;  its  goal  is  the  transformation  of  the  mass. 
These  three  young  people  believed  it  to  be  their 
duty  to  go  to  that  nation,  the  most  materialistic, 
complacent,  and  fossilized  on  earth,  with  the  con- 
fident expectation  that  if  they  simply  preached 
Christ,  and  lived  like  Christ,  the  vitality  of  the 
message  and  the  demonstration  of  consistent  liv- 
ing would  induce  the  Chinese  to  abandon  their  re- 
ligion, accept  Christ,  be  converted,  and  China 
would  become  a   Christian  nation.      Could  any- 


58       GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

thing  on  the  face  of  it  appear  to  be  more  im- 
probable ? 

The  Chinese  with  their  written  language  were 
a  homogeneous  people,  compacted  by  millenniums 
of  development,  common  traditions,  and  clearly 
articulated  customs,  most  difficult  of  disintegra- 
tion or  reconstruction.  They  believed  themselves, 
^ ^dwelling  within  the  four  seas,"  to  be  superior  to 
all  others,  and  looked  upon  others  with  contempt 
as  mere  outsiders  and  barbarians.  They  were  self- 
complacent  over  their  achievements,  and  proud 
of  their  antiquity  and  their  stability,  their  history 
and  their  learning,  their  philosophy  and  their 
virtue,  their  art  and  their  social  order. 

Christianity  is  the  gospel  of  personality,  of 
liberty  from  the  bondage  of  sin  through  faith  in 
Christ,  of  life  through  sacrifice,  enrichment 
through  ministry  to  the  living,  and  hope  which 
reaches  far  beyond  this  world.  The  message  the 
missionaries  had  to  bring  insisted  upon  certain 
facts  which  carried  with  them  definite  and  far- 
reaching  corollaries.  Among  others  were  these: 
The  Chinese,  with  all  their  acquirements,  had  not 
the  knowledge  of  God.  God  is  the  only  Sovereign 
who  has  the  right  to  one's  supreme  allegiance. 
Any  other  allegiance  which  does  not  acknowledge 
his  supremacy  is  sin.  God  has  revealed  himself 
and  his  will  in  Jesus  Christ  as  recorded  in  the 
Bible,  therefore  they  must  accept  the  Bible  as  the 


THE  IMPROBABLE  59 


law  of  their  lives,  repent  of  their  sin,  and  be  con- 
verted, or  be  lost.     From  these  postulates  the  in- 
f(?rence   seemed  inevitable   that  the  gods  of  the 
Chinese  were  false,  their  teachers  deceivers,  their 
philosophy  foolishness,  their  virtues  vices,  their 
religious   history   fable,   their   art   impure,   their 
lives  immoral,  and  that  to  place  the  emphasis  upon 
anything  they   possessed   as   sufficient  for   salva- 
tion was  absolutely  futile.     These  youthful  mis- 
sionaries, among  a  people  who  reverenced  age,  in- 
sisted in  the  name  of  their  Lord  that  the  ancient 
and    self-respecting    Chinese  should    accept    the 
doctrines  they  brought,  with  their  various  conse- 
quences   and    requirements,    because    they    were 
true;  yet  they  were  without  proof  of  their  truth 
except  the  inner  witness  borne  by  the  conscience 
of  the  Chinese  themselves.     They  had  no  army, 
no  insignia  of  office,  no  gift  of  tongues,  no  power 
to  work  miracles,  no  physical  credentials,  only  the 
indwelling  power  of  the   Spirit  sustaining  their 
faith,  directing  their  energies,  and  transforming 
their  lives  more  or  less  completely  into  the  image 
of  the  Christ  they  proclaimed. 

If  any  man  in  all  China  accepted  their  teach- 
ing, and  sought  to  conform  to  its  requirements,  he 
must  abandon  the  altars  of  his  ancestors,  renounce 
their  faith,  reconstruct  his  life,  disobey  the  regu- 
lations of  the  government  as  to  feasts,  festivals, 
and  public  worship,  be  mistunderstood,  ostracized. 


60      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

persecuted,  disinherited,  have  his  property  con- 
fiscated, his  business  destroyed,  his  family  con- 
sider themselves  disgraced,  and  probably  be 
slain — and  for  what  ?  For  an  idea,  a  conviction, 
an  experience  clear  to  his  own  consciousness,  but 
so  intangible  and  unreal  to  others  that  they  did 
not  believe  it  to  have  any  existence  except  in  his 
imagination,  and  which  he  could  not  prove  to  them 
in  their  state  of  mind.  '*Yet  the  only  alternative 
they  set  before  the  Chinese  was,  they  must  accept 
the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  repent  of  their  sin,  be- 
lieve in  Jesus  as  their  Lord  and  Saviour,  or  be 
lost/ 

^^The  victories  in  every  age  have  all  come  from 
the  assertion  of  positive  and  exclusive  truths." 
God  is  not  gathering  a  community  of  weaklings 
and  cowards,  characterized  by  indecision  and  tim- 
idity, but  God  is  building  a  kingdom  of  men,  of 
just  men,  of  just  men  made  perfect,  who  count 
not  their  lives  dear  unto  themselves,  but  who,  like 
their  Lord,  for  the  joy  set  before  them  endure  the 
cross,  despising  the  shame.  Jesus  Christ  never 
hides  his  scars  when  he  seeks  for  loyalty ;  he  never 
promises  ease  to  those  whom  he  invites  to  com- 
panionship. The  moral  solvent  of  this  world  is 
not  rose  water,  but  good  red  blood,  warm  and  vitaL 
With  the  assurance  that  all  authority  is  given 
unto  him  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  Christ  promises 
all  who  loyally  keep  company  with  him  that  they 


THE  IMPROBABLE  61 

shall  be  brought  off  more  than  conquerors,  not 
through  their  own  prowess  but  through  Him  who 
hath  loved  them,  and  given  himself  for  them. 
"Through  persecution  they  must  grow  in  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  the  love  of  Jesus,  which 
comes  as  the  most  precious  of  gifts  and  bides  as 
the  supreme  command." 

What  reception  was  accorded  the  missionaries? 
They  had  not  been  invited ;  they  were  not  wanted, 
and  they  were  not  received  with  either  courtesy 
or  even  scant  welcome.  They  were  merely  tol- 
erated and  treated  with  indifference,  or  at  times 
with  obtrusive  curiosity. 

Foochow,  which  had  been  determined  upon  as 
the  port  at  which  they  were  to  commence  their 
work,  was  a  city  of  six  hundred  thousand  souls, 
surrounded  by  a  wall  nine  miles  in  circumference, 
and  situated  two  miles  from  the  river  Min,  thirty 
miles  from  the  sea.  Six  or  eight  miles  above  the 
city  the  river  divided,  and  came  together  again 
about  the  same  distance  below,  forming  an  island 
two  or  three  miles  wide.  Between  this  and  the 
north  bank  of  the  river  was  Middle  Island,  con- 
nected both  with  the  mainland  and  the  larger  is- 
land by  a  stone  bridge,  known  as  the  "Bridge  of 
Ten  Thousand  Ages."  A  thoroughfare  connecting 
the  south  gate  of  Foochow  and  the  island  was 
thronged  with  all  classes  going  to  and  fro  at  all 
hours  of  the  day.    Within  a  half  day's  easy  walk 


62      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

there  were  two  million  people  clustered  in  villages 
about  the  city. 

JSTowhere  within  the  city  walls  or  along  that 
great  thoroughfare  could  the  missionaries  buy  or 
rent  a  house,  or  even  a  single  room,  or  secure  a 
foot  of  land.  But  on  Middle  Island,  sixty  feet 
or  more  from  the  main  street,  they  secured  a 
tumble-down  bungalow,  and,  after  repairing  it, 
made  it  their  headquarters.  There  they  devoted 
themselves  to  studying  the  Chinese  language, 
which  they  had  commenced  on  shipboard  with  a 
missionary  bound  for  Amoy. 

In  February,  1848,  they  opened  a  boys'  school 
and  a  girls'  school,  with  native  teachers  whom 
they  had  employed;  the  missionaries  conducted 
the  religious  exercises  and  gave  instruction  in  the 
Bible  and  singing  of  hymns.  In  March  they  or- 
ganized a  Sunday  school,  and  as  soon  as  they  were 
able  they  began  talking  about  Jesus  with  such 
people  as  would  listen,  and  busied  themselves  dis- 
tributing tracts  and  portions  of  the  Bible,  trans- 
lated into  the  Fukien  dialect. 

In  April  the  mission  was  strengthened  by  the 
coming  of  the  Eev.  R.  S.  Maclay  and  the  vRev. 
Henry  Hickok  and  their  wives.  In  1851  the  Kev. 
I.  W.  Wiley,  M.D.,  and  the  Rev.  James  Calder 
and  their  wives  and  Miss  Mary  Seely  arrived, 
making  twelve  missionaries  sent  in  four  years. 
They  were  diligent  in  the  study  of  the  language, 


THE  IMPROBABLE  63 

industrious  in  distributing  tracts  and  portions  of 
the  Scripture,  faithful  in  teaching  the  boys  and 
girls  gathered  in  the  schools,  and  persistent  in 
preaching  on  the  streets  and  in  the  market  places, 
so  far  as  health  and  opportunity  permitted ;  but  in 
1854,  after  seven  years  of  faithful  eifort,  the  in- 
ventory of  visible  results  indicated  that  success 
was  very  improbable. 

An  attack  of  typhus  fever  in  1850  left  Collins 
a  physical  wreck,  but  he  wrought  in  the  mission, 
and  heroically  struggled  for  health  as  best  he 
could  until,  reduced  to  a  mere  skeleton,  he  sailed 
for  California  in  1851.  In  the  midst  of  his 
physical  disability  he  wrote  concerning  the  situa- 
tion in  China,  "Considerations  which  history 
suggests  justify  it  in  the  past,  satisfactorily  ex- 
plain its  present  aspect,  and  leave  an  unclouded 
future,  bright  with  the  radiance  of  gospel  prom- 
ises." In  1852  death  promoted  him  to  his 
heavenly  award.  He  had  lived  on  the  plane  of 
his  high  commission,  never  slinking  away  from 
duty  into  the  shadows  below  the  serene  heights 
he  was  called  to  occupy,  and  it  has  been  recorded 
of  him,  "Seldom  has  one  so  young  accomplished 
so  much." 

Mrs.  White  had  died  and  Mrs.  Wiley  had  died. 
Hickok's  health  was  so  shattered  that  he  and  his 
wife  remained  only  one  year.  The  health  of  Dr. 
Wiley  and  his  two  daughters  and  of  Mr.  White's 


64      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

family  had  been  so^  impaired  that  they  returned 
to  America.  Calder  and  his  wife  resigned  from 
the  mission.  Three  deaths,  two  desertions,  and  five 
compelled  to  withdraw  from  China  because  of  im- 
paired health  left  only  Maclay  and  his  wife  on 
the  field,  and  they  had  to  spend  some  weeks  in 
Hongkong  to  recuperate,  but  returned  in  the 
fall. 

In  1854,  after  seven  years,  notwithstanding 
the  extraordinary  devotion  of  the  missionaries  at 
Foochow,  not  one  convert  had  been  secured;  the 
government  persisted  in  its  refusal  to  let  them 
build  a  church;  they  were  unable  to  secure  an 
eligible  piece  of  ground  on  which  to  build  if  the 
government  gave  them  permission;  their  schools 
were  all  closed;  their  scholars  were  all  scattered; 
and  revolution  was  threatening  the  territory  around 
Foochow,  disturbing  the  people,  increasing  the 
difficulties,  and  decreasing  the  possibilities  of 
missionary  success. 

What  would  you  have  done  under  the  circum- 
stances? Lost  faith,  become  sour,  deserted,  re- 
turned to  America,  and  printed  a  book  criticizing 
those  who  remained  at  the  front,  and  calculated 
to  undermine  the  confidence  of  those  who  were 
only  partially  informed  at  home?  Such  things 
have  been  done,  but  not  by  any  of  that  China 
band. 

They  worked  on,  trying  to  master  the  language 


THE  IMPROBABLE  65 

with  the  helps  Morrison  had  prepared,  and  such 
others  as  had  been  created  since;  they  distributed 
portions  of  the  Bible,  knowing  that  "no  word  from 
God  shall  be  void  of  power,"  and  taught  as  oppor- 
tunity offered;  they  returned  kindness  for  perse- 
cution, ministry  for  abuse;  increasing  difficulties 
stimulated  their  devotion;  strengthening  opposi- 
tion gave  them  opportunity  for  greater  patience; 
and,  encouraging  themselves  in  God,  they  called 
upon  the  church  for  reenforcements — not  a  bad 
program  to  live  by  in  the  home  land. 

The  proving  of  faith  precedes  the  attaining  of 
victory.  The  superintendent  wi'ote  of  "the  in- 
estimable privilege  of  being  permitted  to  live  and 
labor  for  God  in  this  vast  heathen  empire,"  and 
again,  "the  enjoyment  of  God's  gifts  constrains  us 
to  sing  of  mercy."  In  1855  the  mission  was 
strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  the  Rev.  E.  Went- 
worth  and  the  Eev.  O.  Gibson  and  their  wives. 
In  speaking  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Wentworth, 
which  occurred  in  less  than  four  months  after  her 
arrival,  one  wrote,  "The  example  of  her  trium- 
phant death  is  a  precious  legacy  to  our  mission 
and  to  the  heathen  people." 

During  the  year  1855  they  secured  a  piece  of 
property  on  the  great  thoroughfare  running  from 
the  south  gate  of  the  city  to  the  "Bridge  of  Ten 
Thousand  Ages,"  and  in  the  ninth  year  of  the  mis- 
sion, without  a  convert,  with  only  a  suggestion  of 


66      GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

a  floating  congregation  and  no  adherents,  they 
built  a  good-sized  and  substantial  church  of  stone 
and  brick,  facing  that  busy  street,  and  placed  in 
the  front  of  it  a  stone  tablet  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion carved  in  Chinese  characters,  ^'Church  of  the 
True  God.''  The  latter  part  of  that  year,  1856, 
they  completed  a  second  church  of  stone  and  brick 
on  Middle  Island  which  they  called  "The  Peace 
of  Heaven." 

This  building  of  their  faith  into  temples  of 
stone,  providing  for  success  in  the  face  of  stolid 
indifference  and  apparently  insuperable  difficul- 
ties, testified  to  such  a  compelling  confidence  as 
caused  the  Chinese  to  consider.  They  said,  "What 
is  the  object  of  their  persistent  effort,  what  fruit- 
age do  they  expect  from  their  patient  seed-sowing, 
what  is  the  motive  of  their  unselfish  living,  and 
what  can  be  the  secret  of  their  confidence  ?"  [^Ton- 
Christian  people  are  sure  to  interpret  the  mission- 
ary before  they  become  interested  in  his  message. 
If  his  life  is  not  persuasive,  they  care  not  for  his 
teaching.  The  two  substantial  and  impressive 
church  buildings,  added  to  the  faithful  testify- 
ing of  the  missionaries,  contributed  greatly  to  in- 
crease the  respect  of  the  Chinese  for  Christianity, 
and,  as  the  missionaries  wrote  home,  "What  peo- 
ple are  induced  to  respect  we  may  suppose  they 
will  finally  imitate." 
'  On  June  14,   1857,  after  nearly  ten  years  of 


THE  IMPROBABLE]  6? 

prayer  and  labor,  tbey  baptized  Ting  Ang,  their 
first  convert,  or,  as  they  wrote:  "It  is  now  onr 
grateful  privilege  to  refer  to  the  laying  of  our  first 
'lively  stone'  in  the  'spiritual  temple,'  which  has 
been  founded  in  this  city.  It  was  to  us  an  occa- 
sion of  grateful  joy,  and  we  trust  it  shall  ever 
mark  the  initiation  of  a  glorious  period  in  the 
history  of  our  mission.  It  is  evident  we  are  on 
the  eve  of  great  changes  in  this  mighty  empire. 
The  former  things  are  ready  to  pass  away,  and  a 
loud  call  is  now  made  upon  the  Christian  Church 
to  give  to  these  perishing  millions  the  bread  of 
life." 

Thirteen  adults  and  two  infants  were  baptized 
during  the  remainder  of  that  year.  Some  per- 
sons of  character  living  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
church  buildings  commenced  to  show  a  growing 
interest  and  to  attend  the  services  regularly.  One 
of  these  was  TIu  I^gieng  Mi,  who  had  not  con- 
fessed himself  a  Christian  but  had  listened  in- 
telligently to  the  preaching  and  read  the  New 
Testament  with  care.  Occasionally  when  persons 
would  ask  confusing  questions  and  lead  the  mis- 
sionaries into  discussion  where,  because  of  their 
limited  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  language,  they 
were  at  a  disadvantage,  Hu  IN'gieng  Mi  would  say, 
"Friends,  I  think  the  teacher  means  to  say" — and 
then  he  would  explain  the  Bible  teaching.  He 
was  a  man  whose  age,  character,  and  family  con- 


68      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

nections  were  thoroughly  respected.  He  and  his 
family  and  many  of  his  friends  came  into  the 
church,  and  became  devoted  Christians.  His 
son,  Hu  Po  Mi,  who  had  been  a  successful  mili- 
tary man,  was  the  first  native  itinerant  Methodist 
preacher  in  China.  Devout  and  industrious,  he 
wrought  conscientiously,  and  died  only  a  few 
months  ago.  Another  son,  Hu  Yong  Mi,  who  had 
been  a  successful  artist,  also  entered  the  ministry 
and  became  a  veritable  apostle  in  saintliness,  self- 
sacrificing  labors,  strategic  initiative,  and  con- 
structive influence. 

The  work  gradually  grew  in  strength,  reached 
out  into  the  country  in  various  directions,  and,  as 
Providence  opened  the  way,  occupied  Kiu  Kiang, 
Peking,  Chung  King  and  other  new  centers. 
Members  from  the  Foochow  Conference  removed 
to  the  Malay  Peninsula,  Borneo,  and  elsewhere, 
Imt  took  their  transforming,  contagious  experience 
with  them,  and  the  work  among  these,  as  well  as 
among  the  Chinese  in  the  Straits  Settlement,  Java, 
and  at  other  points,  is  prosperous. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  at  some  length  upon  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  because 
it  is  typical  of  all  Protestant  missions  in  China. 
The  Presbyterians  waited  ten  years  at  Canton  and 
another  church  waited  twelve  years  for  their  first 
convert,  but  Christianity  has  not  taken  root  at 
any  point  without  the  living  seed  being  planted 


THE  IMPROBABLE  69 


by  some  consecrated  life  in  personal  demonstra- 
tion of  the  redeeming  and  keeping  power  of  Christ. 

From  1807  to  1843,  a  period  of  thirty-six  years, 
only  eighteen  Protestant  missionaries  had  been  able 
to  enter  China  proper,  but  to  Malacca,  Batavia, 
Penang,  Singapore,  Bangkok,  and  Borneo,  where 
Chinese  colonists  were  found  in  great  numbers, 
forty-one  others  had  been  sent,  making  fifty-nine 
in  all.  Of  these  ten  had  died  and  eighteen  had 
been  retired,  leaving  thirty  on  the  field,  represent- 
ing three  British  and  four  American  organiza- 
tions, and  these  reported  a  total  of  but  six  com- 
municants. 'The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto 
a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  .  .  .  which  indeed  is  less 
than  all  seeds;  but  when  it  is  grown,  ...  it  be- 
cometh  a  tree." 

During  the  next  third  of  a  century,  from  1843 
to  1877,  both  the  opposition  and  the  work  became 
more  intense,  and  Christianity  was  greatly  ex- 
tended. Dr.  Ashmore,  speaking  of  the  attitude 
of  the  Chinese  and  missionaries  toward  each  other, 
said :  ''We  were  mobbed  in  the  Fu  city,  mobbed  in 
the  district  cities,  mobbed  in  the  large  towns.  We 
got  so  used  to  being  pelted  with  mud  and  gravel 
and  bits  of  broken  pottery  that  things  seemed 
strange  if  we  escaped  the  regular  dose.  ...  We 
went  out  from  our  homes  bedewed  with  the  tears 
and  benedictions  of  dear  ones,  and  we  came  back 
plastered    over,    metaphorically    speaking,    with 


70      GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

curses  and  abjurations  from  top  to  bottom.  .  .  . 
Our  chapels  were  often  assailed,  roofs  were  broken 
up,  doors  were  battered  in,  and  furniture  was 
carried  off.  There  was  nothing  else  to  do  but  to 
keep  at  it.  Driven  out  of  one  place,  we  betook 
ourselves  to  another,  according  to  instructions,  but 
we  did  not  leave  the  country,  as  the  literati  de- 
sired, and  we  did  not  intend  to.  We  wore  them 
out,  as  the  anvil  sometimes  wears  out  the  ham- 
mer." 

This  shows  the  character  of  those  who  partici- 
pated in  the  propaganda.  Men  and  women  of 
strong  convictions,  unquestioning  consecration, 
indomitable  courage,  marked  personality,  heroic 
mold,  who  counted  not  their  lives  as  dear  unto 
themselves  if  they  might  but  finish  their  course 
with  rejoicing,  were  developed  and  sustained  by 
grace  sufficient  for  every  need. 

The  converts  born  in  these  troublous  times  were 
like  unto  their  leaders,  and  bravely  endured  the 
anathemas  and  persecutions  of  their  neighbors  for 
conscience  sake.  IN^othing  can  withstand  the  testi- 
mony of  loyal  consecration  to  Christ,  for  he  has 
promised,  "If  I  be  lifted  up,  I  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me." 

In  1877  373  missionaries,  representing  29  so- 
cieties, were  residing  at  91  centers.  Nine  prov- 
inces had  been  entered,  312  native  churches 
established,   with   13,035   communicants,   medical 


THE  IMPROBABLE  71 

and  educational  work  widely  introduced,  woman's 
work  inaugurated,  and  millions  of  pages  of  por- 
tions of  the  Scripture  and  of  tracts  had  been  cir- 
culated broadcast  throughout  the  land.  The  leaven 
of  the  new  life  was  getting  into  the  conscience,  the 
thinking,  and  the  social  fabric  of  the  Chinese,  and 
subtly  working  by  evolution  or  revolution  toward 
its  mastery.  During  the  next  fourteen  years 
famine  and  war  gave  opportunity  and  emphasis 
to  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  He  whose  right 
it  is  to  reign  largely  advanced  his  kingdom. 

The  famine  of  1877-78  was  one  of  great  sever- 
ity, but  differed  from  others  only  in  degree.  It  is 
estimated  that  from  nine  and  a  half  to  thirteen 
millions  perished.  Foreigners  contributed  half  a 
million  dollars,  of  which  the  missionaries  were 
the  almoners,  and  four  died  from  overwork  and 
exposure  in  trying  to  relieve  the  famishing.  These 
and  similar  manifestations  went  far  toward  eradi- 
cating prejudice,  breaking  down  distrust,  and 
establishing  good  will. 

In  1900  China  was  rocked  from  center  to  cir^ 
cumference  by  passions  and  fanaticism  which  had 
been  fostered  by  an  almost  unbroken  record  of 
robberies,  contemptuous  treatment,  insults,  and  in- 
juries practiced  by  foreign  powers  through  the 
generations  of  China's  enforced  relations  with 
them. 

The  unconscionable  scramble  of  foreign  syndi- 


72       GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

cates  to  exploit  and  absorb  her  most  valuable 
mining,  transportation,  and  commercial  interests; 
tbe  iniquitous  attempt  to  partition  China  among 
foreign  nations,  carried  so  far  that  by  1899  there 
was  not  in  all  her  coast  line  of  more  than  two  thou- 
sand miles  a  single  harbor  where  she  could  mobi- 
lize her  own  ships  without  the  consent  of  the 
predatory,  mendacious,  intrenched,  and  hated  for- 
eigners; the  introduction  of  machinery  driven  by 
steam,  which  in  England  and  elsewhere  had 
caused  serious  economic  disturbances  among  less 
densely  populated  and  less  conservative  peoples; 
necessary  and  expensive  sanitary  changes  de- 
manded by  the  requirements  of  Western  science 
as  it  touched  the  conditions  interpreting  anti- 
quated teachings  of  remote  centuries ;  the  neces- 
sary adjustment  of  their  educational  content  and 
methods ;  the  smoldering  and  ineradicable  aversion 
to  the  Manchu  domination  in  the  central  govern- 
ment; the  cry  of  designing  priests  that  the  "gods 
are  attacked,'^  filled  China  with  unrest  and  pro- 
test, and  furnished  a  variety  of  inflammable  con- 
ditions, easily  ignited,  w4iich  resulted  in  the 
Boxer  uprising.  "No  so-called  civilized  nation 
would  have  manifested  like  patience  under  a  frac- 
tion of  China's  provocation,  or  have  exercised 
more  self-restraint  in  the  effort  of  her  long  pent- 
up  passion  to  defend  her  honor  and  protect  her 
life. 


THE  IMPROBABLE  73 

Neither  the  missionaries  nor  Christianity  was 
Jhe  cause  or  direct  object  of  their  hatred,  but  the 
Boxers  had  bound  themselves  by  a  terrible  oath 
"to  establish  the  empire  by  the  extermination  of  . 
the  foreigner."  The  Christians  and  their  leaders 
were  an  interpretation  of,  and  closely  related  to, 
that  which  was  foreign,  and,  being  widely  scat- 
tered, less  protected,  and  more  accessible,  they  re- 
ceived the  brunt  of  the  attack. 

With  loving  loyalty  to  their  Lord,  men,  women, 
and  children,  natives  and  foreigners  alike,  chose 
death  rather  than  apostasy,  prayed  for  their  mur- 
derers, and,  unjostled  from  their  faith,  magnified 
the  power  of  love  by  enduring  martyrdom  without 
resistance  to  or  animosity  for  their  slayers.  One 
hundred  and  thirty-five  Protestant  missionaries 
and  fifty-three  of  their  children,  together  with 
forty-four  Komanists,  and  about  twenty  thousand 
Chinese  Christians  sealed  their  testimony  with 
their  blood,  and  enriched  the  church  and  humanity 
by  a  record  of  simple  and  unswerving  devotion  un- 
surpassed in  any  land  or  any  age.  This  depleted 
the  ranks  of  the  church,  seriously  scattered  many 
of  its  organizations,  and  bereft  it  of  loved  and 
trusted  leaders.  But,  sad  as  were  the  personal  ex- 
periences, they  profoundly  impressed  the  Chinese, 
broadened  their  knowledge  of  Christianity  and 
strengthened  its  influence,  purified,  compacted, 
and  energized  the  native  church,  gave  it  a  deep 


74       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

consciousness  of  and  a  strong  confidence  in  sus- 
taining grace  and  spiritual  power,  caused  new 
leaders  and  new  methods  of  interpreting  church 
life  to  emerge,  and  greatly  advanced  the  interests 
of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Even  a  brief  comparison  of  some  of  the  out- 
standing facts  in  1900  and  1904  will  demon- 
strate this:  In  1904  285  physicians  treated  nearly 
1,000,000  patients,  or  200,000  more  the  third 
year  after  the  Boxer  uprising  than  in  any  year 
previous  to  it.  There  were  50,558  scholars  in  the 
Christian  schools,  or  10,000  more  than  in  1899, 
and  1,925  more  native  Christian  helpers  engaged 
in  the  activities  of  the  churches.  There  were 
131,400  Protestant  communicants,  and  more  of 
these  had  been  added  during  the  three  years  pre- 
vious than  the  total  enrollment  in  1879,  seventy- 
two  years  after  the  landing  of  Morrison.  ^^The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  leaven,  which  a 
woman  took,  and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal, 
till  it  was  all  leavened." 

In  1907  there  were  191,958  communicants,  that 
is,  during  the  second  three  years  after  the  Boxer 
uprising,  or  from  1904  to  1907,  the  additions  ag- 
gregated 60,581,  or  more  than  the  entire  enroll- 
ment gathered  during  the  first  ninety  years  of 
Christian  activity  in  the  empire. 

Assuring  and  inspiring  as  are  these  evidences  of 
rapidly  accelerated  growth,  it  is  not  to  them  alone 


THE  IMPROBABLE  75 

we  would  look  for  an  indication  of  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  Christianity  in  China.  There  are 
other  clearly  related  facts  and  influences,  though 
less  tangible,  lying  about  these,  which,  together 
with  their  tendencies,  we  must  study  in  the  large 
if  we  would  understand  the  progress  and  promise 
of  the  successful  solution  of  that  stupendous 
problem. 

The  spirit  of  Christianity,  which  is  love,  has  so 
established  and  reproduced  itself  among  the  Chi- 
nese that  in  the  personal  circle  of  scores  of  thou- 
sands of  redeemed  lives  it  is  compelling  admira- 
tion and  persuading  to  acceptance.  You  may 
walk  from  Canton  to  Shanghai,  a  distance  of  six 
hundred  miles,  and  not  travel  more  than  twenty 
miles  a  day,  and  stop  each  night  in  a  village  con- 
taining a  Christian  community.  ^'Many  of  the 
officials  and  scholars  of  the  land  have  studied 
Christian  literature,  and  are  so  impregnated  with 
the  spirit  of  the  gospel  that  they  are  Christian 
in  almost  everything  but  name."  In  Manchuria 
during  the  last  few  'years  thirty  thousand  have 
been  received  into  the  church,  and  not  more  than 
one  hundred  of  these  were  received  as  the  direct 
result  of  foreign  missionaries. 

When  a  man  among  them  is  raised  by  the  lifting 
power  of  the  accepted  gospel  of  Christ  above  his 
monotonous  environment  into  clear  vision,  high 
purpose,  and  holy  living,  the  spirit  of  clannish- 


76       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

ness  inherited  from  and  established  by  centuries 
of  unchanging  order  becomes  a  powerful  asset  in 
the  advancement  of  Qhristianity,  drawing  his 
family  and  kin  about  kis  ennobled  character. 

The  Chinese  discovers  a  strong  tendency  to  com- 
promise with  his  prejudices  when  they  antagonize 
his  hope  of  gain;  in  fact,  his  acquisitiveness  de- 
fies the  restrictions  of  past  ignorance  and  the 
tricks  of  priestly  chicanery,  and,  distinguishing 
between  the  incidental  evils  and  necessary  benefits 
of  foreign  intercourse,  he  gradually  outgrows  his 
aversions  when  they  are  in  the  way  of  his  inter- 
ests. This  is  not  an  exceptional  characteristic  to 
human  nature. 

The  first  railroad  in  China  was  fourteen  miles 
long,  and  was  built  by  the  British  in  1876  from 
Shanghai  to  Woosong.  As  soon  as  it  was  com- 
pleted the  government  bought  the  entire  outfit, 
tore  up  the  tracks,  and  dumped  the  engines  into 
the  river.  The  superior  carrying  power  and 
economic  value  of  the  engine  to  the  coolie,  of  the 
passenger  coach  to  the  mule  litter,  and  of  the 
freight  car  to  the  wheelbarrow  were  easy  to  demon- 
strate, and  to-day  there  are  many  hundreds  of 
miles  of  railroad  in  successful  operation,  and  many 
thousands  of  miles  projected.  Seventeen  Ameri- 
can locomotives  were  recently  landed  at  a  port 
in  China  from  the  hold  of  one  ship,  and  they  were 
but   an   advance   shipment   of   an  order  for  two 


THE  IMPROBABLE  77 

hundred  and  three.  The  transforming  significance 
of  that  one  fact  is  beyond  estimation. 

Woman  is  the  strategic  personality  of  civiliza- 
tion. No  community  grades  above  the  ethical, 
cultural,  or  social  status  of  its  representative 
women.  Every  system  of  religion  reveals  its 
most  characteristic  fruitage  in  the  condition  of 
woman.  Christianity  is  the  only  system  which 
from  the  beginning  has  antagonized  every  form  of 
evil,  stood  for  her  personal  liberty,  and  steadily 
wrought  for  her  elevation  and  full  ministry. 

Confucius  consigned  her  to  the  position  of  a 
slave,  and,  as  a  result,  when  Christianity  found 
China  woman  was  a  burden-bearer;  she  competed 
with  the  roughest  men,  performed  the  most  menial 
services,  had  no  personal  name,  was  not  considered 
able  to  determine  anything  for  herself,  was  sub- 
ject to  "the  three  obediences — to  her  father,  her 
husband,  and  her  son,''  and  her  condition  was  bur- 
dened with  the  evils  of  foot-binding,  girl  slavery, 
concubinage,  enforced  ignorance,  spiritual  incom- 
petence, and  inherent  inferiority. 

In  harmony  with  the  high  Christian  ideals  of 
personal  liberty,  the  supreme  obligation  of  every 
personality,  whether  male  or  female,  to  attain  to 
the  fullest  likeness  of  Christ,  and  to  realize  the 
largest  efficiency  in  service  for  which  Christianity 
stands,  all  her  unnatural  limitations  are  being 
lifted.      Foot-binding,    prohibited    by    Christian 


•78      GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

teaching  and  discouraged  by  imperial  influence,  is 
doomed.  Girl  slavery  is  under  the  ban  of  official 
condemnation.  Woman  is  dignified  by  Christian 
marriage,  as  the  honored  and  loved  Vvdfe  of  one 
man  for  life.  The  Christian  girl's  schools  have 
so  demonstrated  her  capacity  and  essential  rela- 
tion to  a  noble  future  that  provision,  personal  and 
governmental,  is  being  made  for  her  general  edu- 
cation. She  who  by  being  last  at  the  grave  and 
first  at  the  tomb  of  her  Lord  manifested  her  love 
by  ministry  to  him,  is  being  exalted  in  China,  as 
in  all  the  world,  by  the  ministry  of  his  love  for 
her.  The  enrollment  of  one  girl  the  first  year  in 
that  boarding  school,  opened  in  1853,  when  the 
entire  family  attended  to  see  that  no  harm  was 
done  her,  is  an  indication  of  conditions  so  difi'erent 
from  those  which  obtain  to-day  that  we  are  unable 
to  estimate  the  immense  progress. 

The  following  is  but  a  suggestion  of  the  mag- 
nitude and  radical  character  of  the  changes  in  the 
larger  problem  of  general  education : 

For  more  than  a  score  of  centuries  China  had  a 
system  of  education  which  consisted  of  a  series 
of  articulated  examinations,  with  their  carefully 
regulated  supervision  and  awards,  but  she  had  no 
organized  schools.  These  were  introduced  by  the 
Christian  missionaries,  whose  devoted  work  in  that 
direction  served  as  model,  stimulus,  and  directing 
influence  for  the  development  of  these  latter  days. 


J 


THE  IMPROBABLE  79 

The  first  six  universities  to  teach  foreign  learn- 
ing in  China  were  organized  with  presidents  from 
among  the  missionaries.  Now  there  are  40,000 
schools,  colleges,  and  universities  teaching  foreign 
learning,  and  the  passion  for  Western  learning  is 
insatiable. 

In  190G  one  publishing  house  in  Shanghai  sold 
526,000  readers  and  primary  geographies.  In 
1907  the  Presbyterian  press  in  Shanghai  published 
1,600,000  copies  of  religious  books  and  tracts. 
The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  Shang- 
hai sold  1,900,000  copies  of  portions  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, and  the  Central  China  Tract  Society  sold 
1,500,000  tracts  and  portions  of  the  Bible.  Yuan 
Shih  Kai,  viceroy  of  Chile,  has  established  5,000 
primary  schools  in  his  province.  Chang  Chih 
Tung,  viceroy  of  Ilupeh  and  jSTunan  Provinces, 
has  ordered  that  the  'New  Testament  shall  be 
taught  along  with  the  Chinese  classics  in  all  the 
schools  among  the  58,000,000  in  the  provinces 
over  which  he  presides.  There  is  no  renaissance 
of  education  recorded  in  history  comparable  with 
the  movement  which  is  sweeping  over  China  at  the 
present  time. 

Christianity  is  love  incarnate,  or  the  divine  life 
expressing  itself  in  terms  of  human  living.  Love 
is  the  great  social  dynamic ;  it  cannot  abide  alone, 
it  must  transform  its  environment  into  its  like- 
ness, for  its  life  is  service  and  its  expression  is 


80      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

contagious,  China  records  the  transforming  effect 
of  this  reorganizing  power  in  that  the  attitude  of 
her  dominating  influences,  social,  industrial,  edu- 
cational, and  governmental,  have  all  been  changed 
from  antagonistic  to  cooperative  or  tolerant. 

The  Chinese  are  no  longer  pagans  because  of 
their  desire  to  be  so.  Practically  every  barrier  to 
the  spread  of  the  gospel  has  been  broken  down. 
They  are  no  longer  satisfied  to  face  the  past  and 
mark  time,  but  they  are  facing  the  future  and  try- 
ing to  catch  the  swinging  step  of  the  Christian  na- 
tions. The  improbable  of  yesterday  has  become 
the  insistent  of  to-day.  The  Chinese  who  were 
breathing  threatening  and  slaughter  have  seen  a 
great  light,  and,  glimpsing  the  Lord  of  heaven  as 
revealed  in  history,  providence,  and  experience, 
have  heard  a  personal  call  and  are  crying,  ''Who 
art  thou.  Lord?  What  shall  I  do?"  while  the 
Christ  is  urging  his  church,  this  timid,  hesitating 
twentieth-century  Ananias,  to  go  in  adequate  force 
to  the  Chinese  and  minister  the  sight-giving  touch, 
because  they  are  a  chosen  vessel  to  bring  his  name 
before  the  Gentiles  and  kings  and  the  children  of 
Israel. 


Ill 

THE  IMPERATIVE 


81 


Whoso  hath  the  world's  goods,  and  beholdeth  his 
brother  in  need,  and  shutteth  up  his  compassion  from 
him,  how  doth  the  love  of  God  abide  in  him? — John, 

Curse  ye  Meroz,  said  the  angel  of  Jehovah. 
Curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof, 
Because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  Jehovah, 
To  the  help  of  Jehovah  against  the  mighty, 

— Judges. 


82 


Ill 

THE  IMPEKATIVE 

Jesus  came  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to 
fulfill,  and  spake  as  never  man  spake.  His  teach- 
ing penetrated  every  subterfuge,  swept  away  all 
the  incrustations  of  tradition  and  officialism,  re- 
stated essential  principles  in  their  simplest  terms, 
and  gave  new  emphasis  to  old  truths. 

When,  in  answer  to  the  captious  inquiry  of  a 
self-complacent  lawyer,  "which  stood  up  and  made 
trial  of  him,"  he  propounded  the  discriminative 
and  incisive  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan,  our 
Lord  did  three  things  in  particular: 

1.  He  revealed  the  true  ideal  of  service.  The 
object  of  living  is  the  conservation  and  develop- 
ment of  life.  Subjectively,  this  is  realized  by  ex- 
pression; objectively,  by  impression.  He  who 
interprets  himself  through  the  use  of  his  posses- 
sions— material,  mental,  spiritual — by  helpful 
ministries  to  others,  enriches  his  personal  char- 
acter, and  is  serving,  that  is,  living  according  to 
the  purpose  of  God,  for  God  is  love,  and  serving 
is  the  life  of  love. 

2.  He  illustrated  the  fundamental  principle 
concerning  the  relations  of  demand  and  supply, 

83 


84      GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

that  ability  is  mortgaged  to  need.  ^'If  thou  seest 
thy  brother  have  need,  and  shutteth  up  thy 
bowels  of  compassion,  how  dwellest  the  love  of 
God  in  you  ?"  We  are  stewards  of  the  manifold 
grace  of  God,  and  debtors  to  his  bounty.  He  gives 
to  the  needy,  as  they  may  deserve,  a  draft  on  any 
of  his  stewards  who  may  be  able  to  minister  to 
their  emergency,  payable  at  sight,  and  indorsed, 
'^Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it,  or  did  it  not,  unto  one  of 
the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it,  or  did  it 
not,  unto  me."  It  is  a  serious  oifense  for  anyone 
to  dishonor  a  legitimate  draft  drawn  upon  him  by 
his  creditor,  and  it  will  be  a  time  of  hopeless  bank- 
ruptcy and  confusion  to  some  of  us  when  our  neg- 
lected opportunities,  charged  against  that  which 
we  hold  in  trust,  are  balanced  in  the  ledger  of 
God's  advances  to  us. 

3.  He  taught  that  the  obligation  of  neighborli- 
ness  is  imperative,  that  he  who  ministers  to  the 
needy  is  neighbor  to  the  one  he  helps,  and  that 
opportunity  to  relieve  measures  the  responsibility 
of  neighborliness.  l^ecessity  and  accessibility 
make  neighborliness  possible  to  him  who  is  able  to 
offer  assistance,  but  the  character  of  neighborliness 
is  only  attained  by  him  who  occupies  the  oppor- 
tunity through  personal  ministry ;  that  constitutes 
its  value  and  gives  neighborliness  its  flavor. 

In  this  parable  Christ  subordinates  the  academic 
question,  ^'Who  is  my  neighbor  ?"  to  the  practical, 


THE  IMPERATIVE  85 

character-testing  question,  "Whose  neighbor  am 
I  ?"  Thus  he  lifted  the  term  '^neighbor"  out  of 
the  literal,  local,  mechanical  meaning  of  the  near- 
dweller,  depending  upon  the  accident  of  juxtapo- 
sition, into  the  broad,  spiritual,  significant  rela- 
tion established  by  a  personal  act  of  the  will 
through  ministry  to  the  needy.  Paul  had  caught 
this  idea,  for  while  he  had  such  affectionate  re- 
ga'rd  for  his  countrymen  that  he  could  wish  him- 
self accursed  for  their  sakes,  if  his  love  could  thus 
compass  their  salvation,  he  recognized  that  he  was 
confronted  by  other  obligations,  that  the  urgent 
need  of  the  outside  world  gave  it  such  an  indu- 
bitable claim  upon  him  that  he  confessed,  "I  am 
a  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and  barbarians" — not 
a  debtor  because  of  what  he  had  received  from 
them,  but  because  of  what  he  might  do  for  them. 
This  debt  was  so  urgent  that  he  cried,  "Woe  is  me 
if  I  preach  not  the  gospel,"  and  he  was  ready  to 
the  full  extent  of  his  ability  to  meet,  as  a  part  of 
his  indebtedness,  his  obligation  to  the  need  of  the 
Romans,  the  oppressors  of  the  Jews,  or,  as  he  said, 
"So,  as  much  as  in  me  is,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  you  also  that  are  in  Rome."  -o, 

Measured  by  this  standard,  the  missionary  obli-  i 
gation  of  Christian  America  to  the  non-Christian 
world  is  large  and  imperative.    This  world  respon- 
sibility is  too  vast  and  varied  to  be  discussed  at 
this  time.     Let  us,  therefore,  by  way  of  illustra- 


86      GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

tion,  consider  our  imperative  obligation  of  neigh- 
borliness  in  its  relation  to  a  single  country,  say 
China,  recognizing  this  as  but  a  sample  of  our 
larger  obligations  to  the  world. 

The  evangelization  of  China  is  essential  to  the 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world  must  include  China,  and 
Jesus  commanded  his  disciples,  "Go  ye  into  all 
the  world,  preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole  creation, 
and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations."  The  need 
of  the  Chinese,  their  accessibility  and  our  ability 
to  minister  to  them  require  no  argument.  For  a 
people  whose  chief  characteristic  has  been,  for 
centuries,  an  aversion  to  change,  to  be  in  a  state 
of  transition  and,  as  the  Chinese  are  to-day,  with- 
out the  conserving  and  directing  influences  of  an 
ethical  religion,  threatens  disaster  to  themselves 
and  is  a  menace  to  the  world.  The  former  viceroy 
of  Hupah  and  Nunan  says :  "Confucianism  as  now 
practiced  is  inadequate  to  lift  us  from  the  present 
plight.  Why  retaliate  by  scoffing  at  other  re- 
ligions ?  'Not  only  is  such  procedure  useless,  it  is 
dangerous." 

The  heart  is  confessedly  a  region  which  neither 
their  government  nor  their  religion  can  control. 
They  are  conscious  that  something  more  authori- 
tative, more  efficient,  is  necessary  to  check  and 
purify  the  malignant  passions  of  men.  They  have 
no  books  which  they  believe  to  be  of  divine  origin. 


THE  IMPERATIVE  87 

We  have  the  Word  of  God,  we  have  the  experience 
of  acceptance  by  him,  and  we  have  the  command 
of  Christ,  "Freely  ye  received;  freely  give."  The 
obligation  is  imperative,  but  it  may  be  more  clearly 
apprehended  if  we  consider  some  of  the  conditions 
which  emphasize  our  obligation  to  render  China 
prompt  and  adequate  assistance  in  attaining  a 
Christian  experience. 

I.  Let  us  consider  its  strategic  importance. 
China  constitutes  so  large  a  part  of  the  world  that 
she  cannot  be  kept  out  of  the  horizon  when  any 
problem  is  being  discussed  which  concerns  hu- 
manity. Her  population,  according  to  the  latest 
estimates,  numbers  429,000,000  ;  that  is,  ^ve  times 
the  population  of  continental  United  States,  or 
more  than  one  fourth  of  the  total  population  of  the 
world.  If  her  national  life  were  thoroughly  or- 
ganized, she  could  place  an  army  of  60,000,000 
men  in  the  field  and  not  seriously  disturb  her  do- 
mestic industries.  Such  is  her  virility  that  she 
doubles  her  population  in  eighty  years,  not,  like 
America,  increasing  by  immigration,  but  by 
generation.  It  is  estimated  that  by  the  close  of 
this  present  century  her  population  may  number 
1,000,000,000.  Her  area,  including  her  depend- 
encies, covers  4,2Y7,170  square  miles,  which  in- 
cludes one  tenth  of  the  land  surface  of  the  globe. 
She  is  as  large  as  the  United  States  and  Alaska 
plus  several  times  the  area  of  Great  Britain,  or 


88       GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

one  third  larger  than  all  of  Europe,  and  is  rich  in 
navigable  rivers,  vast  forests,  fertile  soil,  and  ap- 
parently inexhaustible  mineral  resources.  ^^No 
country  can  compare  with  her  for  natural  facili- 
ties of  inland  navigation."  In  addition  to  her 
more  than  2,000  miles  of  coast  line,  with  its 
estuaries  and  harbors,  she  has  12,000  miles  of 
navigable  waterways.  She  has  600,000,000  acres 
of  arable  soil,  very  much  of  it  unsurpassed  in  fer- 
tility. Bengal,  the  most  populous  province  in 
India,  supports  495  persons  to  the  square  mile; 
Belgium,  the  most  populous  state  in  Europe,  599, 
but  China  in  the  River  Provinces  has  about  850 
to  the  square  mile.  The  soil  yields  two  or  three 
crops  per  annum,  has  been  under  cultivation  for 
more  than  a  score  of  centuries,  and  is  at  least  as 
fertile  as  at  any  time  in  the  past.  Four  hundred 
and  nineteen  thousand  square  miles  of  her  terri- 
tory are  believed  to  be  underlaid  with  coal;  it  is 
estimated  there  are  600,000,000,000  tons  of  an- 
thracite, and  coal  enough  in  the  one  province  of 
Shen  Si  to  supply  the  entire  world  for  one  thou- 
sand years.  !Near  these  coal  mines  are  iron  ore 
deposits  of  superior  quality  and  incalculable 
quantity.  There  is  an  equally  lavish  supply 
of  oil,  gold,  copper,  and  other  minerals  wait- 
ing to  enrich  the  new  civilization  when  it  shall 
have  the  skill  to  command  them  for  its  enlarged 
activities. 


THE  IMPERATIVE  89 

China  occupies  the  zone  of  power,  that  belt  be- 
tween the  sterilty  of  extreme  cold  and  the  lassitude 
of  extreme  heat,  which  furnishes  a  temperate  and 
stimulating  climate  with  an  environment  condu- 
cive to  manly  vigor,  where  the  greatest  mental 
activity  can  be  most  steadily  maintained  and  the 
greatest  aggressiveness  and  achievement  may  be  ex- 
pected. What  England  and  Germany  are  to  Eu- 
rope, and  the  United  States  is  to  America,  China 
must  become,  in  an  enlarged  sense,  to  Asia.  While 
desire  for  posterity  and  love  of  money  are  among 
their  ruling  passions,  the  chief  characteristics  of 
the  Chinese  are  conservatism,  persistence,  indus- 
try, poise,  endurance,  and  adaptability.  Their 
staying  quality  is  unequaled — an  inheritance  of 
the  centuries  developed  by  limited  ambitions,  fed 
upon  small  margins,  and  dominated  by  the  crystal- 
lized ideals  of  their  student  life.  They  thrive  in 
any  climate,  and  succeed  in  competition  with  any 
people.  They  are  the  moneyed  men  of  Penang, 
own  two  thirds  of  all  the  property  in  Singapore 
outside  of  the  government  buildings,  and  are  the 
accountants,  confidential  clerks,  bankers,  import- 
ers, and  exporters  of  the  Indian  Archipelago. 
They  have  established  themselves  in  the  Malay 
Peninsula,  Java,  Australia,  ISTew  Zealand,  South 
America,  and  Mexico,  and  are  colonizing  around 
the  Pacific  Ocean  very  much  as  the  Latins  did 
about  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  their  competi- 


90      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

tion  is  SO  feared  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
that  they  have  been  excluded  from  residence. 

Hitherto  China  has  been  exclusive;  simply  en- 
deavoring to  embody  the  human  ideals  and  teach- 
ings of  her  ancestors,  relying  upon  human  muscle, 
scantily  supplemented  by  animal  power,  and  liv- 
ing out  of  the  soil.  What  may  be  expected  of  her 
if  she  accepts  the  ideals  of  God,  is  energized  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  avails  herself  of  the  mighty  poten- 
tialities in  steam,  electricity,  and  mechanical  de- 
vices, commands  her  mineral  resources,  operates 
great  manufactories  and  attains  to  her  legitimate 
place  in  the  family  of  nations  ?  There  are  locked 
up  in  her  future  unlimited  possibilities  for  weal 
or  woe.  We  must  aid  her  to  the  best  or  reckon 
with  her  when  she  is  aligned  with  that  which  is 
below  the  best.  We  must  enter  the  doors  of  op- 
portunity into  which  her  need  and  accessibility 
invite  us  and  establish  the  relation  of  true  neigh- 
borliness,  or  face  her  threatening  influence  as  a 
neglected  near-dweller.  We  must  take  to  her  chil- 
dren the  spiritual  inheritance  intrusted  to  us,  or 
our  children  will  reap  the  curse  of  our  crime 
through  the  selfish  aggressiveness  of  a  nearby 
strong,  willful,  godless  power  working  confusion 
among  the  nations  of  the  world.  "Whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap."  If  indiffer- 
ence to  her  need  is  our  sowing,  indifference  to  our 
interests  will  be  our  enormously  multiplied  har- 


THE  IMPERATIVE  91 

vest.  If  she  is  influenced  to  the  attainment  of  a 
Christian  civilization,  she  will  become  a  most 
powerful  ally  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  Our  respon- 
sibility is  imperative.  We  must  convert,  conquer, 
or  be  conquered. 

II.  Our  obligation  to  China  is  accentuated  by 
her  crisal  condition.  The  ancient  has  been  shot 
through  and  through  with  the  modern.  The  whole 
empire  is  in  a  ferment  with  new  ideas,  new  rela- 
tions, new  objectives,  new  methods.  She  has  been 
jostled  out  of  her  stolidity  and  immobility,  has 
abandoned  her  unifying  principle  of  ultraconserv- 
atism,  broken  with  the  past,  modified  her  estab- 
lished order,  and  lost  her  equilibrium.  Every- 
thing is  in  flux.  Contradictory  forces  are  contend- 
ing for  the  mastery.  Dazed  but  not  discouraged, 
suspicious  but  credulous,  inexperienced  but  com- 
pelled to  advance,  assertive  but  dependent,  she 
needs  counsel,  but  knows  not  whom  she  can  trust. 
There  is  not  a  European  nation  with  whom  she 
has  had  intercourse  which  has  not  been  insolently 
contemptuous  and  disregardful  of  the  simplest  in- 
stinctive rights  of  manhood  in  its  relations  with 
her.  They  have  expoliated  her  territory  north  of 
the  55°  and  south  of  the  10°,  appropriated  her 
colonies  and  outlying  possessions,  and  intrenched 
themselves  in  her  best  harbors.  The  Portuguese 
acquired  a  footing  in  Macao  by  the  most  shame- 
less duplicity,  and  their  "factories,"  as  the  treaty 


92       GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

ports  were  termed,  were  tke  centers  of  extreme  law- 
lessness which  incensed  the  Chinese  to  the  last 
degree.  The  Spanish,  desiring  to  possess  an  out- 
post of  the  empire,  perpetrated  an  indiscriminate 
massacre  lasting  several  days,  and  killed  all  the 
resident  Chinese.  The  Dutch  seized  the  Percadese 
Island  with  no  claim  upon  it  other  than  their  de- 
sire to  have  it,  and  forced  the  Chinese  to  build 
them  a  fort,  that  they  might  defend  the  stolen 
property.  France  has  persistently  encroached 
upon  her  southern  border,  and  shamelessly  ex- 
tended herself  elsewhere.  For  two  centuries 
Russia  has  practiced  stealthy  absorption  of  Chinese 
territory.  England  gradually  intrenched  herself 
through  the  conscienceless  aggression  of  the  East 
India  Company,  seized  strategic  points,  forced  the 
Chinese  to  consume  her  opium,  and  compelled  and 
enforced  treaties  which  she  herself  disregarded. 

Limited  by  treaty  regulations  with  the  powers 
which  have  deceived  and  defrauded  her,  and  com- 
pelled to  consult  them  in  her  reorganization,  China 
faces  a  crisis  without  a  parallel ;  but  act  she  must, 
and  her  program  will  be  determined  and  her  trend 
fixed  within  the  next  decade.  The  following 
decade  will  make  these  most  difficult  to  modify. 
Now  is  the  day  of  supreme  opportunity.  Because 
of  her  peculiar  responsiveness  to  America  and  our 
peculiar  relation  to  her,  this  is  the  day  of  our  im- 
perative obligation. 


THE  IMPERATIVE  93 

III.  Her  inability  but  courageous  efforts  to  re- 
form her  gigantic  wrongs  and  solve  her  stupen- 
dous educational  and  governmental  problems  give 
urgency  to  our  obligation. 

1.  Opium  has  been  a  greater  curse  to  China  than 
V7ar,  famine,  and  pestilence  combined.  ''Millions 
upon  millions  have  been  struck  down  with  the 
plague,"  which  weakens  the  moral  nature,  ener- 
vates the  mind,  undermines  the  health,  consumes 
the  wealth,  and  destroys  family  and  civic  depend- 
ableness.  Two  centuries  ago  China  tried  to 
grapple  with  this  growing  evil,  and  issued  a  strong 
edict  against  it,  but  was  defeated  in  her  effort  to 
control  it.  About  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
England  committed  one  of  the  greatest  crimes 
against  China  ever  perpetrated  by  one  nation 
against  another,  and  all  to  gratify  her  mercenary 
spirit.  The  balance  of  trade  between  India  and 
England  was  steadily  in  favor  of  England,  and 
kept  India  heavily  in  debt  to  her,  while  England's 
purchases  from  China  far  exceeded  her  sales  to 
China.  India  could  pay  England  with  opium  if 
England  would  find  a  market  for  the  deadly  drug. 
England  dare  not  curse  her  homes  with  it,  and 
she  determined  to  compel  China  to  purchase  it. 
China  heroically  resented  this  unprecedented 
danger,  issued  her  imperial  edicts  against  its  im- 
portation or  use,  and  was  led  to  her  first  two  for- 
eign wars  in  her  efforts  to  protect  the  life  of  her 


94      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

subjects  from  the  debauching  influence  of  this  in- 
sidious poison ;  but  England  forced  her  to  consume 
it,  blighting  millions  of  Chinese  physically  and 
morally  that  she  might  collect  her  debt  from  India, 
and  at  the  same  time  pay  her  debt  to  China.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century  "the  annual 
loss  to  China  was  estimated  to  be  not  less  than 
856,000,000  taels;  that  is,  the  total  amount  of  the 
Boxer  indemnity,  heavy  as  it  is,  is  only  half  of 
what  China  loses  every  year  through  the  consump- 
tion and  cultivation  of  opium"  (Honorable  Tong 
Kai-son). 

The  opium  war  of  1842  opened  the  way  for  the 
entrance  of  the  gospel  into  China.  Christ,  "who 
healeth  all  our  infirmities,'^  cured  the  habit  in  those 
who  received  the  Holy  Spirit  through  him.  The 
testimonies  of  thousands  of  men,  thus  redeemed 
from  its  curse,  like  Ling  Ching  Ting,  were  evan- 
gels against  its  use  and  influence.  The  gospel, 
which  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  brought 
hope  to  the  Chinese  and  gripped  the  conscience  of 
the  Englishmen.  Opium  had  become  the  largest 
single  import  into  China ;  immense  areas  of  her 
best  land  were  being  used  for  its  production,  and 
no  other  commodity  involved  such  large,  varied, 
and  intricate  financial  and  civic  interests;  the 
western  and  northwestern  provinces  depended  for 
the  greater  part  of  their  revenue  upon  it,  yet  in 
1907  China  issued  an  imperial  edict  declaring  that 


THE  IMPERATIVE  95 

the  area  under  poppy  cultivation  should  be  re- 
duced one  tenth  annually  for  ten  years,  so  that  at 
the  end  of  that  time  no  opium  would  be  produced, 
and  the  use  of  the  drug  should  cease.     "The  de- 
cree  ordering  the   discontinuance   of  the   use   of 
opium  was  directly  due  to  missionary  influence. 
In  May  Dr.  C.  DuBose,  of  Soochow,  president  of 
the  Anti-Opium  League,  had  an  interview  with 
the  governor-general  of  the  Eiver  Provinces,  his 
Eminence  Chou  Fu,  and  was  told  that  if  a  me- 
morial signed  by  missionaries  of  all  nationalities 
were  sent  to  him  he  would  forward  it  to  the  throne. 
Thirteen  hundred  and  thirty-three  signatures  were 
secured,  bound  in  a  volume  covered  with  yellow 
silk,  and  sent  to  ISTanking,  reaching  there  August 
19,  whence  it  was  forwarded  to  Peking,  and  the 
imperial  edict  was  issued  September  20."     The 
same  year,  the  House  of  Commons  by  a  unanimous 
vote  passed  a  resolution  that  "the  export  of  opium 
from  India  to  China  is  morally  indefensible,"  and 
requested  the  government  of  India  to  put  an  end 
to  it.     The  next  year,  1908,  the  British  govern- 
ment consented  to  an  ordinance  whereby  the  ex- 
port from  India  should  be  reduced  one  tenth  an- 
nually.    Both  of  these  deliverances  of  Great  Brit- 
ain followed  important  petitions,  many  publica- 
tions,    frequent     discussions,     earnest     personal 
appeals,  and  organized  effort  upon  the  part  of  the 
Christian  ministers  and  laymen. 


96      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

In  China  the  zeal  for  reform  has  outrun  the 
conditions  of  the  edicts.  At  the  expiration  of  two 
years  the  consumption  and  production  had  de- 
creased about  one  third,  and  in  eight  provinces  the 
growth  of  the  poppy  had  practically  ceased.  In 
Foochow  not  one  of  the  three  thousand  opium 
joints  in  the  city  is  left  open.  This  was  brought 
about  by  the  cooperation  of  the  Anti-Opium  So- 
cieties with  the  officials,  who,  under  instructions 
from  Peking,  promulgated  the  order  October, 
1906,  that  the  dens  should  be  closed  before  the 
first  day  of  the  fourth  Chinese  moon,  or  May  12. 
Opposed  by  dealers,  manufacturers  of  accessories, 
the  users,  and  others,  a  petition  was  presented  for 
one  month's  delay.  This  being  refused,  they  urged 
one  day  of  grace.  Any  concession  would  have 
broken  the  force  of  the  decree  in  the  minds  of  the 
people.  The  leader  offered  a  bribe  of  $1,000,  but 
he  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  the  most  vigorous 
measures  adopted  to  enforce  the  decree.  The  anti- 
opium  forces  organized,  appointed  vigilance  com- 
mittees, Foochow  and  suburbs  were  divided  into 
districts,  assigned  to  special  committees  for  super- 
vision, and  only  three  or  four  dens  kept  open  after 
the  date  fixed,  and  the  keepers  of  these  were 
promptly  seized  and  sent  to  jail. 

Great  demonstrations  were  made  to  celebrate 
the  closing.  Long  processions  of  students  paraded 
the  streets  with  lanterns,  banners,  and  flags ;  hun- 


THE  IMPERATIVE  97 

dreds  of  shopmen  decorated  their  places  with  bunt- 
ing and  the  like;  many  meetings  were  held,  and 
Chinese  officials,  together  with  the  missionaries, 
spoke  to  enthusiastic  crowds.  The  trade  will  be 
restricted  to  a  very  few  shops,  and  only  licensed 
persons,  duly  registered  after  a  careful  examina- 
tion as  to  the  condition  of  their  health,  will  be 
permitted  to  buy.  The  quantity  they  may  buy 
will  be  reduced  from  year  to  year,  and  the  price 
will  be  gradually  raised.  Large  moneys  are  being 
withdrawn  from  the  trade  and  invested  in  other 
industries.  The  land  used  for  its  cultivation  is 
being  used  for  other  crops,  and  sanitariums  are 
being  opened  and  help  provided  for  the  victims  of 
the  habit. 

In  the  provincial  city  of  Hangchow  all  the 
public  opium  dens,  to  the  number  of  more  than 
eight  hundred,  were  ordered  to  be  closed  six 
months  after  March  1,  1907,  and  strict  orders 
were  issued  by  the  provincial  counselor  to  all  his 
subordinate  officers  that  after  the  third  month  of 
1908  no  opium  smoker  would  be  tolerated  among 
the  subalterns,  or  rank  and  file,  and,  if  found 
smoking,  the  officers  in  charge  would  be  tried  by 
court-martial. 

In  some  places  the  municipalities  purchased  all 
opium  pipes  at  twenty  cents  a  piece,  and  a  fixed 
price  was  paid  for  other  apparatus.  One  Taotai 
gave  one  thousand  taels  toward  the  fund  which 


98      GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

was  rapidly  supplied  to  carry  this  arrangement 
into  effect. 

The  Cantonese  closed  their  dens,  gave  free  pas- 
sage to  those  wishing  to  return  home,  and  four 
dollars  to  each  victim  of  the  habit  to  start  a  new 
business  with.  Similar  results  have  been  regis- 
tered in  other  cities,  and  between  one  and  two 
million  opium  dens  have  been  closed  within  the 
past  three  years.  "The  avowed  aim  of  the  gov- 
ernment is  to  sweep  away  nine  tenths  of  the 
opium  evil  by  the  close  of  1910."  One  serious 
hindrance  to  the  larger  success  is  found  in  the  for- 
eign concessions,  which  are  under  the  authority 
of  the  so-called  Christian  nations.  Within  these 
concessions  the  opium  joints  are  not  closed,  are 
making  money  out  of  the  restrictions  elsewhere, 
and  cannot  be  controlled  directly  by  the  Chinese 
government.  But  as  no  officer  will  be  permitted 
to  continue  in  office  who  uses  opium,  the  busi- 
ness and  habit  have  been  struck  a  staggering 
blow. 

An  incidental  effect  is  a  great  stimulus  in  the 
tobacco  trade,  especially  cigarettes,  as  they  con- 
tain the  most  nicotine  of  any  form  in  which  it  is 
used;  and  opium  cures,  containing  more  or  less 
morphine,  are  being  exploited,  but  these  are  only 
temporary  conditions.  The  increased  productive- 
ness of  those  who  are  freed  from  its  enervation, 
the  stimulus  to  food  industries  and  other  helpful 


THE  IMPERATIVE  99 

occupations,  the  improved  moral  condition  of  the 
people,  and  a  growing  desire  for  education  are 
sure  to  follow  as  permanent  and  increasing  re- 
sults, and  are  already  manifesting  themselves. 
The  end  is  not  yet,  but  the  cause  of  reform  has 
been  greatly  advanced  and  is  on  the  way  to- 
ward complete  establishment.  Many  causes  and 
forces  have  contributed  to  the  progress  already 
made,  but  the  native  Christians,  the  students 
from  Christian  schools,  and  the  missionaries 
were  prime  movers  in  the  great  achievement, 
and  China  will  be  redeemed  from  this  gigantic  evil 
if  Christian  people  meet  their  imperative  obliga- 
tion to  strengthen  their  forces  and  adequately  aid 
the  heroic  struggle. 

If,  as  said  Salmon  P.  Chase,  ^^the  way  to  re- 
sumption is  to  resume,"  and  as  demonstrated  by 
the  Chinese,  the  way  to  prohibit  is  to  prohibit, 
may  not  the  practical  Americans  who  believe  in 
sobriety,  temperance,  and  civic  decency  conclude 
that  the  way  to  kill  the  most  pampered  and  per- 
nicious business  in  this  land  is  to  kill  it  ? 

2.  The  ancient  custom  of  foot-binding,  which  ' 
dates  from  the  Tang  dynasty,  has  persisted  for 
about  thirteen  hundred  years  and  has  brought  ex- 
quisite torture  to  multiplied  millions  of  infant 
girls,  resulting  in  the  death  of  a  considerable  per- 
centage of  them  and  crippling  the  rest  for  life. 
Its    introduction    was    without    any    pretense    to 


100    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

utility,  and  its  evils  have  been  recognized  by  many 
of  their  more  advanced  thinkers  and  statesmen, 
but  for  more  than  a  millennium  China  has  been 
powerless  to  change  the  custom. 

Kang  Hsi  (1662-1723),  a  great  warrior,  able 
scholar,  and  wise  ruler,  whose  reign  of  sixty-one 
years,  two  centuries  ago,  was  the  most  brilliant  of 
any  in  China,  endeavored  to  stop  foot-binding,  and 
issued  edicts  prohibiting  it.  He  brought  all  the 
resources  of  his  wisdom,  prestige,  and  power  to 
aid  him  in  his  purpose,  but  it  developed  such  a 
combined  and  growing  opposition  that  he  with- 
drew his  edicts  and  abandoned  the  effort,  lest  its 
prosecution  should  cost  him  his  throne. 

In  1872  Miss  Mary  Q.  Porter,  a  missionary  of 
the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  opened 
a  school  for  girls  in  Peking.  She  was  afterward 
married  to  the  Rev.  Frank  D.  Gamewell,  the 
pioneer  and  engineer  missionary  who  survived  the 
riots  in  West  China  and  was  the  heroic,  resource- 
ful, and  successful  defender  of  Christians  and 
foreigners  at  the  siege  of  Peking.  Miss  Porter 
made  it  a  condition  in  her  school  that  no  child 
whose  feet  had  been  bound  should  be  admitted,  un- 
less she  permitted  her  feet  to  be  unbound.  This 
was  a  great  innovation  and  thought  by  many  to  be 
impossible  of  enforcement;  but  patiently,  kindly, 
firmly,  it  was  insisted  upon,  and  though  the  school 
grew  slowly  at  first,  it  had  set  up  a  new  standard 


THE  IMPERATIVE  101 

and  introduced  a  new  order  making  for  righteous- 
ness,  and  it  could  afford  to  wait. 

Almost  universally  the  missionaries  throughout 
the  empire  have  taught  and  used  their  influence 
against  the  cruel  and  crippling  custom.  Interest 
in  the  matter  gradually  spread,  and  Mrs.  Archi- 
bald Little  devoted  ten  years  of  her  life  in  China 
to  organizing  and  leading  the  campaign  to  liberate 
the  women  of  the  empire  from  the  evils  of  this 
ancient  custom. 

Within  a  few  years  the  education  of  the  girls 
had  so  appealed  to  the  Chinese  that  the  empress 
became  the  founder  and  patron  of  schools  for  them. 
She  set  apart  a  large  Lama  convent  and  had  it 
transformed  into  a  school  for  girls.  Members  of 
the  noble  families  have  imitated  her  example  and 
opened  schools  in  their  private  palaces  for  their 
daughters  and  personal  friends,  and  provision  has 
been  made  for  public  schools  for  girls  in  Peking. 
By  order  of  the  Board  of  Education,  no  pupils 
whose  feet  are  bound  are  admitted  to  these  schools. 
Attendance  is  not  compulsory,  but  the  benefits  of 
attendance  are  very  manifest,  and  the  schools  are 
popular. 

Many  young  men  who  had  received  Christian 
or  Western  education  asserted  their  right  to  have 
some  say  in  the  matter  of  their  own  marriage,  and 
agreed  not  to  marry  any  woman  whose  feet  were 
bound. 


102     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

Imperial  edicts,  proclamations  by  governors- 
general  and  other  officials,  books,  tracts,  all  con- 
tributed, and  these,  together  with  other  influences, 
proved  persuasive,  so  that  when  Mrs.  Archibald 
Little  was  leaving  China  in  l^ovember,  1906,  she 
turned  the  direction  of  this  reform  movement 
over  to  the  Chinese,  and  the  greatest  interest  was 
manifested  bj  those  highest  in  authority.  This  is 
the  first  reform  movement  taken  over  by  the  Chi- 
nese from  the  foreigners. 

The  opium  habit  and  foot-binding  custom  are 
cited  only  as  examples  suggestive  of  the  variety, 
range,  intricate  relations,  obduracy,  and  gigantic 
proportions  of  China's  reform  problems.  If  our 
sympathy  is  challenged  by  her  Herculean  labors  in 
the  attempt  to  right  these  wrongs,  which  have  suc- 
ceeded only  in  so  far  as  the  reforms  were  energized 
by  and  had  the  cooperation  of  Christian  purpose, 
her  courageous  but  unequal  struggle  to  solve  her 
constructive  problems,  which  is  an  immensely 
more  difficult  undertaking,  must  emphasize  more 
fully,  if  possible,  our  imperative  obligation  to 
move  speedily  and  adequately  to  her  assistance. 

3.  China's  great  task  is  her  educational  problem. 
This  takes  precedence  of  her  governmental  prob- 
lem, for  which  she  may  find  a  few  intelligent, 
educated,  broad-minded,  clear-visioned  statesmen 
who  can  study  governmental  principles  as  unfolded 
by  other  nations  and  from  these  evolve  a  plan  of 


THE  IMPERATIVE  103 

closely  articulated  details  which  might  be  nearly 
ideal,  but  that  would  not  settle  her  governmental 
problem. 

In  1906  China,  the  oldest,  largest,  and  most 
conservative  of  the  last  three  absolute  monarchies 
of  the  earth,  sent  two  Imperial  Commissions  to  the 
West  to  study  constitutional  government.  They 
visited  the  United  States  and  all  the  principal 
countries  of  Europe,  and  their  report  was  fol- 
lowed by  an  imperial  decree  intimating  a  purpose 
to  establish  a  constitutional  form  of  government 
and  ordering  the  people  to  prepare  for  it;  and 
China  is  now  engaged  in  organizing  a  system  of 
democratic  government  for  the  cities  and  larger 
towns ;  has  decided  that  certain  classes  are  unfit  to 
exercise  the  franchise,  and  has  included  among 
these  barbers,  play  actors,  Christians,  and  coolies. 
By  imperial  edict  graduates  of  Christian  colleges 
are  denied  the  rights  in  this  connection  granted  to 
graduates  of  government  institutions.  But  that 
has  not  made  her  strong.  The  strength  of  a  gov- 
ernment depends  upon  the  quality  of  the  governed. 

Important  as  may  be  the  form  of  government, 
that  is  secondary  to  the  reliability  and  solidarity 
of  its  citizens.  Patriotism  is  not  a  purchasable 
commodity.  Faithfulness  in  office  is  not  guaran- 
teed by  appointment  to  office.  In  the  absence  of 
a  deep-rooted  loyalty  to  high  ethical  ideals,  crime 
is  a  question  of  opportunity.  Restrictions  from 
without  cannot  permanently  control  impulses  from 


104    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

within.  A  stream  cannot  rise  above  its  fountain 
nor  a  pure  life  proceed  from  an  impure  heart. 
China's  primal  need  is  not  a  new  civilization  but 
a  Christian  experience. 

A  newborn  babe  possesses  nothing  but  aptitudes 
and  necessities.  The  relieving  of  the  latter  de- 
velops the  former.  All  that  any  man  has  beyond 
his  original  endowment  he  has  acquired,  and  the 
process  of  acquiring  constitutes  his  education. 
Where  nations,  communities,  parents  are  wise, 
they  will  select  with  utmost  care,  establish  at  great 
cost  if  need  be,  and  direct  through  the  choicest 
agents  the  educational  processes  to  which  their 
children  and  youth  are  subjected  until  their  ac- 
quirements, ideals,  principles,  purposes,  and 
methods  of  procedure  become  valuable  assets  to 
the  sura  total  of  reliability,  righteousness,  honor, 
wealth.  Failing  in  this,  every  other  attainment 
has  in  it  the  seeds  of  dishonor,  ultimate  weakness, 
and  death. 

The  educational  system  of  China,  being  confined 
to  its  ancient  classics,  was  neither  initiative  nor 
constructive,  but  memoriter  and  illustrative.  Its 
iron-clad  requirements  both  as  to  content  and 
method  have  resulted  in  the  development  of  the 
passive  rather  than  the  active  virtues,  in  the  sup- 
pression of  individuality,  and  the  evil  effects 
which  come  from  neglecting  the  study  of  nature 
and  domestic  training,  which  are  the  heritage  and 


THE  IMPERATIVE  105 

boon  of  Western  civilization.  The  mental  activity 
which  the  Chinese  have  retained  is  not  by  reason 
of  their  education  but  in  spite  of  it,  for  being  imi- 
tative and  servile,  ^'its  tendency  was  to  stunt 
genius  and  drill  the  faculties  into  a  slavish  adher- 
ence to  venerated  usage  and  dictation." 

The  educational  problem  which  China  is  facing 
is  not  to  modify  an  existing  system  nor  to  estab- 
lish a  system  where  none  exists,  but  to  supersede 
an  old,  carefully  elaborated  system  which  for  cen- 
turies has  been  closely  articulated  with  her  re- 
ligious, social,  and  governmental  conditions ;  to 
adapt  and  adopt  a  new  system  which  in  almost 
every  particular  must  contradict  the  established 
one.  This  involves  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
revolutions  the  world  has  ever  known. 

Possibly  the  most  accomplished  of  China's  long 
list  of  monarchs  was  Li  Shi  Mi,  the  second  em- 
peror of  the  Tang  dynasty.  "Famed  alike  for  his 
wisdom  and  nobleness,  his  conquests  and  good 
government,  temperance,  cultivated  taste,  and 
patronage  of  literary  men,"  he  ranks  with  Mar- 
cus Aurelius  and  with  Charlemagne,  who  came 
to  his  throne  in  the  next  century.  Under  his  in- 
fluence the  system  of  education  which  began  be- 
fore Abram  migrated  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  and 
continued  until  the  present  century,  took  on  the 
most  of  the  characteristics  presented  In  modern 
times,  so  that  A.  D.  607  may  be  taken  as  the  real 


106    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

birth  time  of  this  method  of  preparing  statesmen 
bj  study  and  selecting  them  by  literary  examina- 
tions. 

The  colleges,  if  such  we  may  call  them,  were 
coordinated  with  Peking,  and  the  oflicers  of  the 
empire  were  recruited  from  successful  competitors 
in  their  progressive  examinations.  About  one 
million  students  underwent  preliminary  tests  at 
seventeen  hundred  and  five  matriculation  centers 
before  they  could  enter  the  lists  for  the  first-degree 
examinations.  Some  Y 6 0,000  candidates  com- 
peted biannually  for  the  first  degree,  while  about 
190,000  competed  tri annually  for  the  second  de- 
gree. These  figures  do  not  include  those  who  com- 
peted for  the  third  degree,  which  was  open  for 
competition  triannually  at  Peking. 

The  examinations  consisted  of  quotations  from 
the  Chinese  classics  or  papers  prepared  in  imita- 
tion of  indicated  passages.  The  competitor  re- 
ceived his  subject  and  was  conducted  to  a  desig- 
nated stall,  generally  of  brick,  about  three  feet 
wide,  four  feet  deep,  and  six  feet  high,  contain- 
ing nothing  but  a  table  and  a  bench.  These  stalls 
were  arranged  in  rows  on  either  side  of  aisles,  with 
sometimes  14,000  or  more  within  the  one  inclosure. 
There,  with  a  limited  supply  of  food  and  water, 
the  candidate  remained  three  or  four  days  under 
close  surveillance,  that  none  might  communicate 
with  him  until  his  paper  was  completed.     ^NTot  in- 


THE  IMPERATIVE  107 

frequently  so  much  had  been  involved  in  his  prepa- 
ration, and  so  much  depended  upon  his  success, 
that  the  candidate  died  under  the  nervous  strain. 

Emperor  Quang  Hs'u,  in  1898,  inaugurated  an 
era  of  educational  reform,  but  was  imprisoned  in 
the  interest  of  the  Opposition  by  the  empress  dow- 
ager, and  a  reaction  set  in.  By  his  order  all  tem- 
ples at  which  sacrifice  was  not  required  by  edict 
were  to  be  turned  into  schools  and  colleges  for  the 
newer  learning,  and  all  who  graduated  from  these 
new  institutions  were  to  be  accepted  in  the  govern- 
ment service.  In  1901,  after  the  Boxer  defeat, 
the  empress  promulgated  the  very  educational  re- 
forms for  which  the  emperor  had  been  deposed 
less  than  four  years  before,  and  by  an  imperial 
edict,  September  2,  1905,  practically  the  whole 
ancient  scheme  of  literary  and  civil  service  ex- 
aminations was  abolished.  Beginning  with  1906, 
all  competitive  examinations  for  the  literary  de- 
grees were  to  cease,  and  henceforth  no  one  could 
pass  the  competitive  examinations  who  had  not 
pursued  with  success  the  required  courses  of 
modern  learning. 

I  have  visited  the  old  examination  stalls  in  va- 
rious cities  and  found  them  falling  into  decay  or 
being  torn  down  to  make  place  for  modern  educa- 
tional institutions.  At  Peking  it  is  planned  to 
erect  new  buildings  on  a  site  of  twenty-eight  hun- 
dred acres  for  the  new  Imperial  Chinese  Univer- 


108    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

sitj,  which  is  to  supersede  the  old  Peking  Uni- 
versity. Dormitory  accommodations  for  twenty 
thousand  persons  are  to  be  provided  and  a  portion 
of  the  grounds  set  apart  for  agricultural  experi- 
ments. The  site  of  the  present  university  is  to  be 
utilized  for  a  school  for  the  daughters  of  j)i'iiices, 
nobles,  and  high  officials.  China  is  eager  to  de- 
velop her  new  education  and  willing  to  make  any 
necessary  sacrifice  to  make  it  efficient. 

The  commissioner  of  police  in  Tientsin,  in  1906, 
issued  an  official  notification  prohibiting  the  hold- 
ing of  celebrations  or  the  making  of  offerings  to 
the  dead  on  the  great  Festival  of  All  Souls,  and 
strongly  advised  the  people  to  contribute  to  the 
educational  fund  the  money  they  intended  to  spend 
in  offering  sacrifices  to  the  spirits.  At  the  request 
of  the  Educational  Commission  and  the  Commer- 
cial Association,  the  Shanghai  magistrates  issued 
a  proclamation  urging  the  people  to  divert  similar 
moneys  to  their  educational  fund.  About  $350,000 
was  spent  annually  for  these  sacrifices. 

The  World's  Chinese  Student  Federation  stands 
for  a  close  federation  of  all  students  for  modern 
education,  translations,  and  publications,  for  mu- 
tual practical  assistance  and  for  a  common  lan- 
guage. The  new  regulations  require  the  mandarin 
dialect  to  be  used  in  all  government  schools. 

The  Chinese  ambassador  in  the  United  States 
assembled  all  the  Chinese  students  in  our  country 


THE  IMPERATIVE  109 

at  Amherst  for  three  dajs  during  the  summer  of 
1906,  to  consider  how  they  could  make  their  stay 
abroad  useful  to  their  country,  and  he  has  ar- 
ranged to  hold  three  such  meetings  annually 
hereafter. 

Schools  of  Western  learning  are  being  developed 
in  every  one  of  the  eighteen  provinces.  They  are 
also  founding  medical  and  industrial  colleges, 
agricultural  institutions,  schools  for  normal  train- 
ing, mechanical  engineering,  electrical  engineer- 
ing, and  the  whole  range  of  technical  instruction. 

There  are  forty  thousand  schools  in  China  more 
or  less  closely  related  to  the  Western  learning,  but 
only  one  man  in  twenty  and  one  woman  in  a  thou- 
sand can  read,  and  China  is  planning  to  have  a 
million  schools  established  as  necessary  to  meet 
the  demands  of  her  vast  population,  that  is,  an 
addition  of  960,000  schools  to  those  which  have 
been  opened.  The  Chinese  are  losing  faith  in  their 
religion,  and  when  the  command  went  forth  to 
appropriate  as  many  temples  as  might  be  needed 
and  turn  them  into  schools,  the  people  did  not 
protest,  and  the  missionaries  were  not  astonished. 

By  using  her  temples  and  developing  her  re- 
sources, she  may  handle  the  material  side  of  the 
problem,  but  her  insuperable  difficulty  is  to  get 
teachers.  She  must  do  the  best  she  can.  Like  a 
drowning  man  grasping  at  a  straw,  she  is  giving 
positions  to  half -educated  Japanese  and  Chinese — 


110    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

men  turned  out  wholesale  from  tlie  inefficient  get- 
educated-quick  schools  opened  in  Tokyo  to  exploit 
the  China  emergency,  men  who  have  read 
Herbert  Spencer  and  Haeckel,  but  know  nothing  of 
the  world,  the  Bible,  ethics,  or  educational  meth- 
ods. In  1907  there  were  sixteen  thousand  Chinese 
students  in  Tokyo.  Some  of  these  spent  less  than 
two  years  in  the  study  of  English,  the  sciences  and 
literatures  of  foreign  lands,  and  yet  have  been  en- 
gaged to  teach  these  subjects.  This  influx  of  blind 
leaders  of  the  blind,  forced  in  a  pagan  environ- 
ment to  a  premature  appearance  of  maturity,  is 
supplying  for  leadership  persons  who  have  gulped 
down  an  unassimilable  dose  of  Western  learning 
and  acquired  a  most  grotesque  idea  of  their  own 
cleverness,  whose  influence  will  be  to  deflect  and 
make  more  turbid  the  currents  of  thought  and 
progress.  The  new  scientific  learning  will  drive 
out  idols  and  the  grosser  forms  of  superstition,  but 
only  the  gospel  of  Christ  can  save  China  from  gen- 
eral skepticism  and  rank  materialism. 

China  is  seething  with  the  spirit  of  progress. 
She  may  get  technical  training  from  France,  Ger- 
many, and  elsewhere,  but  where  can  she  find  men, 
consecrated  men  of  sturdy  character,  grounded  in 
ethical  ideals,  with  vision  and  poise  for  general 
leadership  ?  She  has  awakened  to  a  national  con- 
sciousness. She  is  evolving  an  embryonic  but 
genuine  national  patriotism.     She  is  learning  to 


THE  IMPERATIVE  111 

read.  The  transformation  so  widespread,  and 
wider  spreading,  througli  the  missionaries,  com- 
merce, railroads,  postal  service,  newspapers,  and 
other  innovations  transplanted  from  Christian  na- 
tions, must  be  guided  and  given  tone,  or  its  very 
momentum  will  make  for  madness.  Success  of 
Christian  influences  in  begetting  this  desire  for 
better  things  intensifies  our  responsibility  to 
make  it  possible  for  China  to  realize  the  best.  To 
urge  her  out  of  her  old,  well-beaten  way,  and  then 
leave  her  to  grope  in  confusion  for  she  knows  not 
what,  because  of  our  failure  to  lead  her  to  the  only 
true  and  living  way,  would  be  the  crime  of  crimes. 
Christianity  must  dominate  the  intellectual  life 
of  China  or  fail  in  adequate  leadership.  This 
must  not  supersede  but  supplement  her  spiritual 
ministry  to  the  heart  life.  A  commission  ap- 
pointed by  the  Shanghai  Centennial  Conference 
issued  an  urgent  call  for  3,200  men  and  1,600 
women  to  engage  in  direct  evangelistic  work. 
There  is  on  the  average  for  all  China  but  one 
missionary  for  every  132,000  souls;  in  the  most 
favored  province  (Chung  Kiang)  one  to  43,000. 
In  Honan,  where  the  riots  occurred  recently,  there 
is  only  one  missionary  on  the  average  for  every 
380,000.  You  cannot  save  the  people  unless  you 
teach  them,  and  you  cannot  teach  them  unless  you 
reach  them.  The  United  States  has  the  position, 
possessions,  confidence,  which  make  her  respon- 


112     GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

sible  for  the  future  of  China  as  no  other  nation 
can  be,  and  this  leads  us  to  consider — 

IV.  Our  imperative  obligation  as  emphasized 
by  the  crime  of  our  neglected  opportunity.  The 
Chinese  diplomatic  service  dates  from  186Y,  and 
to  our  American  minister,  ]\fr.  Burlingam^,  is  due 
the  credit  of  introducing  it,  and  to  this  day  in- 
telligent Chinese  recall  v^ith  gratitude  the  services 
which  he  and  America  through  him  rendered  their 
nation.  In  times  of  great  distress  our  secretary 
of  state,  Mr.  John  Hay,  set  before  them  an  ex- 
ample of  Christian  statesmanship  which  came  as 
a  sunburst  in  their  darkness,  and  exemplified  the 
spirit  of  neighborliness  which  they  never  fail  to 
commend. 

In  the  hour  of  her  decrepitude,  when  the 
ghoulish  powers  were  waiting  to  administer  upon 
her  effects,  and  with  unseemly  haste  were  entering 
upon  her  expoliation.  President  Roosevelt  in- 
terested himself,  and  she  was  assured  that  the 
United  States  stood  for  the  maintenance  of  her 
autonomy.  The  services  of  Mr.  Conger,  the  pa- 
tience of  our  admiral  who  refused  to  fire  upon 
her  fleet,  the  refunding  of  the  Boxer  indemnity, 
the  exemplary  conduct  of  hundreds  of  American 
missionaries,  physicians,  and  teachers,  constitute 
a  record  which  has  impressed  the  Chinese  with 
confidence  and  would  make  them  willing  and  eager 
to  counsel  with  us. 


THE  IMPERATIVE  113 

About  the  middle  of  the  century  just  past 
students  from  China,  young  men  of  initiative  and 
high  purpose,  prepared  in  the  Christian  schools 
and  stimulated  by  the  devoted,  forceful  lives  of 
the  missionaries,  sought  personal  equipment  for 
service  in  the  colleges  of  America.  Others  went  to 
Europe,  but  the  United  States  was  the  chosen  land 
of  the  vast  majority.  Although  it  meant  threat- 
ened expatriation,  or,  when  they  returned,  perse- 
cution and  imprisonment,  they  dared  these  and 
came.  They  were  few  at  first,  but  the  number 
gradually  increased  as  the  benefits  became  mani- 
fest, the  opposition  decreased,  and  the  Christian 
schools  enlarged,  until  a  notable  company  of 
China's  choicest  young  men  were  enrolled  in  our 
institutions  of  learning. 

The  relations  of  our  country  with  China  had 
not  been  ideal  in  every  particular,  but  they  were 
far  and  away  more  just  and  more  neighborly  than 
those  of  any  other  nation,  and  the  God  of  all  grace, 
who  gave  us  grace  to  command  China's  confidence, 
gave  China  grace  to  place  in  our  hands  in  rapidly 
increasing  numbers  the  training  of  her  young  men. 
These  young  men  were  to  furnish  the  embodied 
ideals  for  China's  transformation,  give  guidance 
to  her  development,  form  to  her  government,  and 
in  large  measure  determine  her  immediate  future. 
Had  we  been  true  to  our  great  trust  and  excep- 
tional opportunity,  the  Boxer  trouble  might  have 


114    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

been  averted;  or,  if  not,  there  would  have  been 
thousands  of  educated  men  occupying  official  posi- 
tions, embodying  the  Christian  principles  which 
underlie  and  permeate  our  national  life,  ready 
and  able  largely  to  meet  China's  crisal  require- 
ments and  direct  her  governmental,  social,  and 
educational  development.     But — 

In  1882  (August  4)  "The  Chinese  Exclusion 
Act"  became  operative. 

In  1887  (March  4)  the  treaty  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  Chinese  labor  for  twenty  years 
was  signed. 

In  1892  (May  4)  "The  Chinese  Exclusion  BiH'' 
was  passed  and  approved. 

In  1893  (May  15)  the  Supreme  Court  sustained 
the  constitutionality  of  the  "Geary  Chinese  Ex- 
clusion Act." 

In  1893  (August  10)  the  first  Chinaman  was 
deported. 

I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  the  wisdom  or  un- 
wisdom of  excluding  contract  labor  from  the 
United  States,  and  I  concede  that  much  can  be 
said  in  its  favor,  but  the  manner  in  which  the  law 
was  enforced  was  barbaric  and  inhuman  to  an  ex- 
tent that  would  be  a  shame  to  a  tribe  of  savages. 
Truculently  subservient  to  the  demands  of  a 
selfish,  disorganizing,  imperious,  unchartered,  and 
irresponsible  labor  union,  and  cringing  to  a  venal 
political  propaganda,  both  of  which  were  unameri- 


THE  IMPERATIVE  115 

can  and  godless,  the  officers  of  the  United  States 
government  subjected  Chinese  officials,  gentlemen, 
merchants,  and  students,  who  sought  to  enter  our 
country  for  business  or  study,  to  indignities  to 
which  it  would  be  a  disgrace  to  subject  the  lowest 
class  of  coolies.  Chinese  who  were  resident  in 
this  country  were  abused,  their  homes  destroyed, 
their  property  looted,  their  persons  maltreated, 
and,  not  infrequently,  they  were  killed  by  hood- 
lums whose  idleness  was  shamed  by  the  industry 
of  their  victims,  and  whose  reckless  dissipation 
placed  them  at  a  great  disadvantage  in  comparison 
with  the  temperate  and  patient  thrift  of  the  ones 
they  injured.  The  government  fathered  the  bru- 
tality and  disgrace  by  refusing  adequate  redress. 

This  was  deadly  to  the  Chinese  student  tidal 
wave  which  had  set  toward  our  colleges.  Many 
were  deterred  from  further  study,  many  were  de- 
flected to  atheistic  and  materialistic  institutions  in 
Europe.  Thousands  found  their  way  to  the  schools 
in  pagan  Japan.  These  are  in  the  high  places  of 
power  to-day,  exerting  an  influence  for  evil,  or  fail- 
ing, because  of  our  crime,  to  exercise  the  construc- 
tive influences  for  good  which  are  essential  to 
China's  greatness.  Had  we  treated  the  Chinese 
with  common  decency,  which  is  infinitely  below 
neighborliness,  the  crisis  which  confronts  her  to- 
day as  a  nation  would  not  be  so  acute,  and  we 
would  not  stand  condemned  at  the  bar  of  God  for 


116     GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

cruelly  neglecting  an  imperial  privilege  and  im- 
perative obligation. 

When  Jesus  was  asked  by  his  disciples  to  teach 
them  to  pray,  he  gave  them  what  is  commonly 
called  "The  Lord's  Prayer/'  commanding,  accord- 
ing to  Luke,  "When  ye  pray,  say" — and  according 
to  Matthew,  "After  this  manner  pray  ye" — mak- 
ing the  prayer  he  taught  a  part  of  the  daily  ritual 
and  the  model  for  the  prayers  of  his  disciples  in 
all  ages.  The  object  of  this  prayer  is  the  adjust- 
ment  of  man  to  God  as  everlasting  Father  and  uni- 
versal Sovereign,  and  it  is  as  suggestive  in  the 
consequential  order  of  its  petitions  as  in  their  con- 
tent. The  jDetition,  "Thy  will  be  done,  as  in 
heaven,  so  in  earth,"  is  not,  as  many  assume,  a 
repetition  of  the  petition  "Thy  kingdom  come," 
which  immediately  precedes  it,  but  a  consequential 
extension  of  it.  It  is  not  supposable  that  Jesus 
would  have  duplicated  a  petition  in  a  formula  so 
condensed  that  much  is  included  only  by  implica- 
tion. '^Thy  kingdom  come"  is  a  plea  that  the 
sovereignty  of  God  shall  come  to  and  be  estab- 
lished at  the  point  from  which  the  petition  pro- 
ceeds. We  would  not  say  "Come,"  meaning 
thereby  to  designate  China,  India,  the  isles  of 
the  sea,  even  our  neighbor,  or  any  point  other  than 
that  from  which  the  petition  emanated,  unless  we 
so  specified.  "Come"  localizes  and  personalizes 
the  petition,  and  necessarily  means  "Come"  to  the 


THE  IMPERATIVE  ny 

one  praying.  ^'Thj  kingdom  come"  in  my  heart, 
in  my  life.  It  implies  personal  consecration  to 
God  and  pleads  for  the  establishment  of  his  abso- 
lute sovereignty  in  the  personal  life  of  the  one 
offering  the  petition.  It  is  the  intensive  prayer 
for  personal  acceptance  and  adjustment.  The  pe- 
tition, ^^Thy  will  be  done,  as  in  heaven,  so  in 
earth,"  is  the  extensive  prayer  for  the  adjustment 
of  all  the  rest  of  the  world  to  God's  sovereignty. 
The  petition  personal  and  intensive  must  precede 
the  petition  general  and  extensive,  for  it  would  be 
absurd  and  blasphemous  for  a  person  who  is  in 
rebellion  against  and  resisting  the  sovereignty  of 
God  in  his  personal  life  to  pray  for  the  establish- 
ment of  God's  sovereignty  over  a  rebellious  world. 

China  can  be  readily  redeemed  by  Christianity, 
and  will  be  when  we  exemplify  the  principles  it 
teaches,  consecrate  ourselves  to  the  work  it  re- 
quires, and  identify  ourselves  with  God  in  his  pur- 
pose to  bring  salvation  to  the  Chinese.  Through 
faithful  obedience  to  God  the  impossible  became 
the  actual,  the  improbable  became  the  insistent, 
and  by  our  response  to  the  imperative  we  will  be 
approved  or  condemned  in  the  sight  of  God  and 
before  the  nations  of  men. 

China  cannot  redeem  herself.  Spontaneous 
generation  or  regeneration,  physical  and  spiritual, 
are  contrary  to  the  laws  of  life.  Life  must  be  com- 
municated from  without.     China  has  felt  the  new 


118    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

impulse.  She  is  eager  to  realize  the  new  power 
which  Cometh  from  above,  but  all  manner  of  evil 
influences  are  plying  her  on  every  side,  and  from 
within,  and  she  is  unable  to  compass  her  emanci- 
pation and  enfranchisement  without  the  assistance 
of  those  who  personally  know  the  life  of  God. 
''The  regeneration  of  China  becomes  the  question 
of  transcendent  importance  ;  a  question  demanding 
the  broadest  statesmanship,  and  the  supremest 
effort;  a  question  involving  the  destiny  of  the 
race." 

We  have  the  ability,  we  have  the  responsibility. 
Our  obligation  is  imperative.  We  must  face  the 
divine  inquisition,  ''Whose  neighbor  are  we  ?"  She 
may  be  redeemed  without  us,  but  we  will  undercut 
our  claim  to  discipleship  if  we  fail  adequately  to 
aid  her  in  this  hour  of  her  supreme  need.  "Whoso 
.  .  .  seeth  his  brother  have  need,  and  shutteth  up 
his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him,  how  dwelleth 
the  love  of  God  in  him?" 


IV 

THE  INDISPENSABLE 


119 


Thou  Shalt  call  his  name  Jesus;  for  it  is  he  that 
shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins. — Matthew. 

Neither  is  there  any  other  name  under  heaven,  that 
is  given  among  men,  wherein  we  must  be  saved. — The 
Acts. 


120 


IV 
THE  INDISPENSABLE 

There  are  many  things  essential  to  our  well- 
being  which  are  either  unrecognized  or  under- 
valued. Their  withdrawal  would  disorganize  so- 
ciety, change  cosmos  into  chaos,  and  destroy  the 
possibility  of  life.  They  are  so  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  our  lives  that  we  have  never  seen  them 
in  their  true  perspective.  Even  in  our  thinking 
we  have  rarely  considered  their  character,  or  our 
dependence  upon  them,  and  have  ignored  them  or 
depreciated  their  value. 

Take,  for  example,  the  atmosphere  about  us. 
We  never  saw  it.  We  scarcely  ever  have  given  it 
a  serious  thought  unless  it  were  to  complain  of  its 
impurity,  its  unsatisfactory  temperature,  its  ex- 
ceptional stillness,  or  its  breaking  the  speed  limit 
of  our  convenience,  and  yet  the  equilibrium  of  its 
pressure  in  every  direction ;  its  mobility,  its  availa- 
bility, the  purity  of  its  elements,  the  stability  of 
their  composition  are  essential  to  physical  life.  If 
the  oxygen  were  extracted  from  it,  we  would  die. 
If  there  were  any  portion  of  time  when  we  could 
not  have  access  to  it,  we  would  cease  to  live;  but 
who  of  us  have  put  into  the  estimate  of  our  annual 
121 


122     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

living  necessities  the  amount  of  oxygen  we  have 
required,  possibly  an  average  of  a  ton  a  year,  ever 
since  we  were  given  life  ?  Nor  have  we  appre- 
ciated God's  gracious  adjustment  whereby  we  find 
it  waiting  for  us  wherever  we  go. 

If  on  the  first  day  of  January  each  of  us  should 
have  doled  out  to  him  the  ton  of  oxygen  necessary 
to  meet  his  needs  for  the  succeeding  twelve  months, 
what  could  he  do  with  it,  how  could  he  carry  it 
with  him,  how  could  he  travel  without  it,  where 
could  he  store  it,  how  could  he  protect  it,  how 
maintain  its  purity  ?  If  it  were  possible  for  some 
corporation  to  form  a  combine,  and  control  the 
output  and  distribution,  what  would  be  the  con- 
dition of  the  rest  of  humanity?  We  would  cease 
to  live  before  we  could  secure  an  injunction  to 
break  the  Satanic  corner  in  this  one  of  the  neces- 
sities of  life,  or  negotiate  for  the  required  supply. 
And  yet  who  of  us  has  ever  said,  ^^I  thank  thee, 
Lord,  for  the  atmosphere  I  breathe,  everywhere 
available,  always  ready  to  fill  my  lungs,  to  main- 
tain the  temperature  of  my  body,  to  aerate  my 
blood,  and  to  serve  me  in  a  thousand  uncatalogued 
ways  as  provided  for,  by  thy  bounty"? 

Take  that  institution  which  is  most  distinctive 
of  the  Christian  civilization,  and  fundamentally 
related  to  Christianity,  the  home.  Who  has  ever 
appreciated  it  as  he  should  ?  If  any  of  us  have  a 
home  in  the  full^  rich  sense  of  the  term,  it  is  more 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  123 

necessary  to  our  best  living  than  any  other  one 
thing  pertaining  to  this  world.  We  would  rather 
part  with  anything  else  which  we  possess  than 
have  our  home  broken  up.  He  forfeits  his  claim 
to  respect  as  a  man  who  would  not  part  with  his 
life,  if  need  be,  to  maintain  its  honor  or  protect 
it  from  invasion.  How  unutterably  sad  to  see  an 
individual  disarticulated  from  this  fundamental 
institution,  an  outcast  among  men,  no  part  of  an 
inner  circle  of  sympathy  in  which  he  might  nor- 
mally interpret  his  truest,  most  tender,  and  con- 
structive  personality  for  the  blessing  of  others, 
and  from  which  draw  personal  strength,  confi- 
dence, inspiration,  courage,  according  to  the  needs 
of  his  nature!  If  you  were  asked  what  makes 
home  the  joy  and  inspiration  of  childhood,  the 
haven  of  youth,  the  dream  of  young  men  and 
maidens,  the  incomparable  prize  of  the  mature, 
the  sanctuary  of  the  aged,  the  most  conserving  and 
constructive  institution  of  Christian  lands,  you 
could  readily  answer. 

It  is  not  the  building.  There  may  be  other 
houses  more  commodious,  in  which  the  home  is 
less  beautiful  or  helpful,  and  it  may  be  there  are 
less  commodious  houses  where  the  home  is  per- 
vaded with  a  subtler,  sweeter  atmosphere  of  peace, 
confidence,  strength.  It  is  not  the  location.  You 
may  recall  a  hamlet  standing  under  a  hill,  shut  in 
from  any  broad  outlook  upon  the  world,  but  in 


124    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

which  a  saintly  and  now  sainted  mother  and  father 
lived  for  each  other  and  their  children,  ministered 
perpetual  blessings  to  your  early  life,  laid  the 
foundation  of,  and  gave  inspiration  to,  your  char- 
acter, and  from  which  the  memory  of  their  strong, 
devoted  lives  comes  down  through  the  years  like  a 
breath  from  heaven.  It  is  not  the  luxurious  car- 
pets, elegant  furniture,  expensive  works  of  art, 
or  elaborate  decorations.  These  and  many  other 
things  may  be  accessories,  ministering  comfort  and 
refinement,  but  they  are  not  the  essentials  of  a 
home. 

There  are  many  things  which  unite  to  create 
the  pervasive  atmosphere  of  a  genuine  home  and 
help  to  make  it  to  those  who  possess  it  the  truest 
type  of  heaven  and  dearest  place  on  earth.  Chief 
among  these  is  love,  reciprocated  and  unrestrained 
in  its  expression,  interpreting  itself  in  mutual 
sympathy  and  helpfulness.  Here  each  desires  the 
blessedness  of  the  others,  and  hungers  for  their 
enlargement ;  here  each  interprets  the  condition  of 
the  others  and  rejoices  or  sorrows  with  them; 
here  each  delights  to  aid  the  others  as  need  may 
be,  with  cordial  cooperation  and  joyous  ministry. 

It  is  love,  alert  to  express  itself  in  sympathy 
and  helpfulness,  which  makee  the  home  the  place 
of  rest,  the  place  where  one  is  always  rated  at  his 
best  and  counts  for  most;  where  there  is  unobtru- 
sive, continuous,  appreciated  thoughtfulness,  each 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  12S 

for  the  others;  where  the  best  in  one's  life  finds 
natural  expression,  and  there  come  back  to  him 
perpetual  dividends  of  joy  far  larger  than  his 
original  investment.  This  is  home.  That  nation 
is  strong,  sure  of  the  future,  and  greatly  blessed 
where  the  homes  enthroning  mutual  love  are 
numerous  and  securely  guarded  by  mutual  appre- 
ciation and  confidence. 

You  may  travel  where  you  will  and  you  will  not 
find  a  true  home  among  the  non-Christian  peoples 
of  the  world,  except  where  it  has  been  inspired  by 
Christian  influence.  You  may  find  many  resi- 
dences, even  palaces,  both  large  and  elegant — for 
there  are  persons  of  great  wealth  whose  houses  are 
of  imposing  appearance — furnished  with  barbaric 
splendor  and  every  luxury,  including  many  slaves 
and  retainers,  but  the  relationship  between  its 
members  does  not  interpret  mutual  love ;  sympathy 
does  not  dominate  and  helpfulness  does  not  direct 
their  activities.  jSTeither  the  pagan  nor  Moham- 
medan religion  contributes  to  the  development  of 
homes.     There  are  two  reasons  for  this: 

1.  The  home  is  the  highest  expression  of  social- 
istic altruism,  where  each  lives  for  the  others,  and 
all  live  for  each.  This  makes  the  home  the  nur- 
sery and  interpretation  of  the  family,  but  the 
essentials  of  true  family  life  are  not  fostered  by 
the  non-Christian  religions.  The  family  is  no 
civic  device  nor  human  invention,  but  a  divine  in- 


126     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

stitution,  inseparable  from  the  normal  develop- 
ment and  highest  interests  of  humanity.  It  is 
God's  thought  of  humanity  reduced  to  its  simplest 
terms.  It  includes  three  persons,  of  one  substance 
and  essential  equality  in  their  organized  relations. 
The  family,  including  the  father,  the  mother,  and 
the  child,  is  the  human  trinity,  and  constitutes  the 
unit  of  the  Christian  civilization.  The  individual 
is  not  the  unit.  He  is  but  a  fraction  of  the  unit. 
The  unit,  that  which  includes  all  the  essentials 
necessary  for  the  continuance  of  the  race,  is  the 
family.  It  embodies  in  embryo  all  social  rela- 
tions, and  is  the  type  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  completeness  of  the  family  is  destroyed  by 
the  elimination  or  undue  limitation  of  any  one  of 
its  three  essential  personalities.  Among  all  non- 
Christian  peoples  the  condition  of  woman  is  one 
of  limitation,  humiliation,  and  sorrow.  Kept  in 
ignorance,  doomed  to  the  most  menial  service,  held 
as  a  slave  or  pampered  as  a  mistress,  and  usually 
denied  the  possession  of  a  soul,  mutualities  are  im- 
possible, and  her  place  of  residence  partakes  of  the 
nature  of  a  prison. 

In  pagan  and  Mohammedan  lands  the  child  is 
under  the  absolute  authority  of  the  father  to  give 
away,  sell,  kill,  or  treat  as  for  any  reason  he  may 
determine.  Wherever  woman  is  held  in  contempt, 
or  the  child  is  depreciated,  or  ruled  with  selfish 
caprice,  it  is  impossible  for  genuine  family  life  to 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  127 

develop  or  exist,  and  its  interpretation  is  of  neces- 
sity a  far  call  from  the  ideal  home.  God  in  Jesus 
Christ,  by  the  supreme  expression  of  irrepressible 
love,  redeemed  the  race.  He  exalted  the  redeemed 
woman  to  equality  with  the  redeemed  man,  not 
for  the  purpose  of  duplication  or  substitution,  but 
for  supplemental  and  coordinated  relations,  mak- 
ing the  twain  one,  as  the  body,  though  having 
many  members,  is  one  body.  He  also  enfranchised 
childhood,  setting  the  child  in  the  midst,  as  the 
chief  care  and  hope  of  its  parents  and  the  race. 
Thus  out  of  the  redeemed  factors  he  made  pos- 
sible the  reforming  of  the  true  family,  the  unit  of 
the  Christian  civilization. 

2.  As  there  can  be  no  home  without  a  family, 
so  there  can  be  no  family,  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
term,  without  mutual  love.  The  growth  and  con- 
tinuance of  love  require,  as  its  object,  an  accessible 
and  sympathetic  personality,  of  real,  imaginary, 
or  possible  purity.  The  gods  which  non-Christian 
religions  present  for  worship  are  impersonal  or 
impure,  selfish  or  unapproachable.  Individual  life 
interprets  religious  belief,  and  as  love  is  not  em- 
bodied in  any  god,  nor  set  forth  in  the  teachings  of 
any  religion  other  than  Christianity,  the  family 
and  the  home  are  neither  normally  developed  nor 
even  fostered  under  non-Christian  influences. 
Jesus  stated  a  great  ethical  truth,  which  finds 
ample  historic  illustration,  when  he  said  to  his 


128    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

disciples,  ^^A  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you, 
that  ye  love  one  another;  even  as  I  have  loved 
you." 

The  pages  of  history  record,  at  rare  intervals, 
conspicuous  examples  of  devotion  and  service,  and 
there  are  many  more  inconspicuous  ones,  which 
suggest  and  illustrate  more  or  less  distinctly  the 
nature  and  possibilities  of  love.  There  has  been 
in  all  ages  more  or  less  refined  selfishness,  and 
much  selfishness  unrefined,  which  masqueraded  as 
love.  But  in  the  light  of  the  revelation  which  God, 
who  is  love,  has  made  of  himself  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ,  who  is  his  express  image,  all  these 
pale  into  obscurity.  The  life,  teachings,  death, 
resurrection,  and  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ  gave 
to  love  a  new  significance,  one  which  never  had 
been  assigned  to  it  before.  It  is  the  revelation  of 
life  and  immortality  in  essence  and  operation,  and 
his  commandment  that  "^^e  love  one  another,  even 
as  I  have  loved  you,"  sets  up  a  standard  of  being 
and  a  requirement  of  expression  which  never  be- 
fore  had  been  attained  or  conceived.  It  was  a 
'^new  commandment."  New  in  its  application — 
"God  commendeth  his  own  love  toward  us,  in  that, 
while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us." 
'New  in  its  intensity — "The  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  us."  New  in  its  endurance — nothing 
"shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God, 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."     l^ew  in  its 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  129 

spirit — "God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,"  that  is,  the  spirit  of  sacrifice 
measured  by  need  and  ability.  'New  in  its  motive 
— "That  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  eternal  life,"  that  is,  the  motive 
of  the  largest  blessedness  to  the  needy  who  will 
receive  its  ministry. 

The  love  which  Christ  embodied  and  com- 
manded is  not  the  play  of  an  occasional  emotion, 
not  the  expression  of  a  variable  passion,  not  an 
agreeable  ministry  to  those  closely  related,  but  a 
clearly  defined  and  established  quality  and  atti- 
tude of  soul  with  a  controlling  and  sustained  pas- 
sion to  bless  the  needy  through  personal  ministry, 
by  sacrifice.  So  radically  new  was  this  command- 
ment that  God  himself  assumed  our  flesh  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ  to  reveal  its  significance  to 
man  in  terms  of  human  living.  It  is  the  fulfilling 
of  the  law,  the  interpretation  of  God,  the  infallible 
test  of  discipleship.  "By  this  shall  all  men  know 
that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  for 
another." 

In  New  Zealand  the  Lord's  Supper  was  being 
celebrated.  The  first  rank  having  knelt,  a  native 
rose  up  and  returned  to  his  seat,  but  again  came 
forward  and  knelt  down.  Being  questioned,  he 
said:  "When  I  went  to  the  table  I  did  not  know 
whom  I  would  have  to  kneel  beside,  when  suddenly 
I  saw  by  my  side  the  man  who  a  few  years  before 


130     GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

slew  my  father  and  drank  his  blood,  and  whom  I 
then  devoted  to  death.  Imagine  what  I  felt  when 
I  suddenly  found  him  by  my  side.  A  rush  of 
feelings  came  over  me  that  I  could  not  endure,  and 
I  went  back  to  my  seat.  But  when  I  got  there 
I  saw  the  upper  sanctuary,  and  the  great  supper, 
and  thought  I  heard  a  voice,  saying,  ^By  this  shall 
all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  love 
one  another.'  That  overpowered  me.  I  sat  down 
and  at  once  seemed  to  see  another  vision  of  a  cross 
with  a  Man  nailed  to  it,  and  I  heard  him  cry, 
^Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do.'     Then  I  returned  to  the  altar." 

So  far  as  a  missionary  manifests  in  his  life  the 
compassionate  love  of  Christ,  he  presents  a  com- 
pletely new  thing  in  a  non-Christian  community, 
and  it  is  the  first  thing  that  makes  an  impression 
upon  the  heathen  heart.  "They  meet  enlighten- 
ment with  indifference  or  the  teachings  of  their 
tradition,  but  all  their  weapons  miss  fire  against 
merciful  love,  and  it  awakens  within  them  feelings 
of  whose  existence  they  themselves  were  unaware. 
The  sermon  in  action  is  understood  long  before  the 
sermon  in  words." 

When  Christ  uttered  this  "new  commandment," 
and  proclaimed  love  to  be  the  test  of  disciples,  all 
the  great  non-Christian  faiths  of  the  world  had 
been,  or  were,  in  active  operation,  and  had  proven 
themselves  incompetent  to  meet  the  world's  needs. 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  131 

Only  Mohammedanism  has  arisen  since,  and  while 
it  teaches  there  is  but  one  God,  and  that  he  is  great, 
it  ignores  the  love  of  God,  as  revealed  in  Jesns 
Christ,  and  for  twelve  hundred  years  has  been 
sterile  as  to  constructive  men  in  the  realm  of 
thought  and  unable  to  lift  a  single  tribe  into  virtue. 
Every  other  religion  than  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  bases  devotion  upon  fear  or  selfishness, 
compels  service,  embodies  no  controlling  expres- 
sion of  sympathy,  and  ignores  love.  Heathenism 
has  no  compassion  for  the  widow,  the  orphan,  the 
weak,  the  oppressed,  and  provides  them  no  advo- 
cate. "If  we  address  our  consideration  to  the  prac- 
tical results  which  flow  from  heathenism  rather 
than  the  structure  of  heathen  thought,  we  will  find 
that  misery  in  various  forms  is  its  inseparable 
attendant." 

About  eighty-seven  per  cent  of  the  Burmese  are 
Buddhists,  and  Buddhism  has  existed  among  them 
for  more  than  twenty-five  centuries;  for  fourteen 
centuries  it  has  been  their  dominating  religion, 
therefore  Burma  will  furnish  a  proper  place  to 
study  the  characteristics  of  Buddhism. 

Buddhism  is  an  absolute  atheism.  It  has  no 
personal  god,  but  believes  in  a  personal  devil,  and 
in  good  spirits  and  bad  spirits,  called  Nats.  The 
Buddhists  do  not  worship  nor  pray  to  the  good 
spirits  because,  according  to  their  teachings,  these 
spirits  are  doing  the  very  best  they  can  for  hu- 


132     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

manity.  If  they  could  do  any  better,  they  would ; 
and  if  they  cannot  do  any  better,  why  waste  time 
in  making  offerings  to  them?  They  present  all 
their  offerings  and  make  all  their  ]3rayers  to  the 
evil  spirits  in  order  to  placate  them.  The  most 
meritorious  work  a  Buddhist  can  perform  is  to 
build  a  pagoda,  that  is,  a  solid  piece  of  masonry, 
conical  in  shape,  which  serves  no  purpose  except 
to  attract  the  attention  of  the  evil  spirits,  flying 
back  and  forth,  who,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  reminded 
that  the  one  who  constructed  it  fears  their  malevo- 
lent influence,  seeks  to  placate  them,  and  would 
persuade  them  not  to  harm  the  one  who  thus  ap- 
peals for  their  good  offices. 

You  can  stand  on  an  eminence  in  Burma  and 
see  hundreds,  or,  moving  through  the  land,  you 
will  pass  thousands  of  these  pagodas.  It  is  no 
merit  to  repair  one,  for  while  it  might  bring  im- 
munity to  the  one  who  built  it,  according  to  their 
views,  it  would  add  no  merit  to  the  one  who  re- 
paired it. 

There  are  but  four  exceptions,  the  Shwedagon 
at  Rangoon,  and  one  each  at  Pegu,  Prome,  and 
Mandalay.  These  are  sacred  because  of  their  an- 
tiquity, their  magnificence,  and  the  relics  they 
contain.  The  Shwedagon  at  Tvangoon,  because  of 
its  age,  its  relics,  and  its  splendor,  is  the  most 
sacred  shrine  of  all  Buddhism.  The  relics  which 
it  enshrines  are  eight  hairs  of  Gautama   and  a 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  133 

priest's  garment,  a  water  dipper  and  a  staff  of 
three  previous  incarnations  of  Buddha. 

The  range  of  mountains  running  north  and 
south  in  Burma  stops  abruptly  just  north  of  Ran- 
goon, and  at  166  feet  above  the  city  level  a  plat- 
form was  constructed  900  by  685  feet,  and  on  that 
the  pagoda  has  been  erected.  It  was  commenced 
in  the  year  B.  C.  585,  attained  its  present  propor- 
tions in  1546,  and  has  been  gilded  with  pure  gold 
seven  times;  the  last  time  was  in  1887-88,  and  re- 
quired 86,110  packages  of  gold  leaf,  at  an  expendi- 
ture of  300,000  rupees.  The  pagoda  is  365  feet 
high,  and  composed  of  twelve  sections.  The  ninth 
section,  the  Hti,  or  umbrella,  is  thirteen  and  one 
half  feet  in  diameter,  made  of  seven  iron  rings, 
plated  inside  and  out  with  gold,  weighs  a  ton  and 
a  quarter,  and  is  valued  at  about  650,000  rupees, 
without  the  ornamentation,  which  is  valued  at 
about  as  much  more.  The  under  side  of  the  um- 
brella is  heavily  incrusted  with  jewels:  3,664 
rubies,  541  emeralds,  and  433  diamonds  vie  with 
each  other  in  brilliancy  and  reflect  the  devotion  of 
the  worshipers,  who  donated  them.  Hanging 
down  from  the  inside  of  the  umbrella  are  107  bells 
of  pure  gold,  some  weighing  six  pounds;  1,335 
bells  of  silver,  some  weighing  as  much  as  seventeen 
and  one  half  pounds ;  and  24  bells  of  mixed  gold 
and  silver,  making  1,466  bells,  each  with  its  own 
musical  tone.     Every  bell  has  a  slightly  concave, 


134    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

leaf-shaped  clapper,  suspended  in  it.  In  the  bril- 
liant sunshine  the  pagoda  is  a  thing  of  superb 
beauty,  looking  like  a  great  shaft  of  light  piercing 
the  very  heavens.  Under  the  mellow  light  of  the 
Oriental  moon,  when  seen  towering  above  and  re- 
flected in  the  Royal  Lakes,  its  softened  outline 
looks  as  though  it  might  be  the  ghost  of  a  dream. 

The  slightest  passing  zephyr  caught  by  those 
delicately  suspended  concave  clappers,  sets  them 
swinging  in  those  1,500  bells  of  more-than-crystal 
tone,  and  there  comes  sifting  down  through  the  air 
the  sound  of  a  pervasive  music  of  unearthly  sweet- 
ness, as  though  the  whole  sky  had  been  turned  into 
an  ^olian  harp,  or  a  choir  invisible  were  render- 
ing some  celestial  chorus.  This  music,  soft  as  the 
soughing  of  summer  breeze  through  a  solemn 
cypress  grove,  echoes  and  reechoes  over  the  plat- 
form where  the  worshipers,  dressed  in  the  garb  of 
almost  every  land,  are  bending  by  the  hundreds, 
and  at  times  by  the  thousands,  having  come  by 
weary  pilgrimages  to  present  their  offerings,  and 
make  their  prayers — and  to  what  ?  To  the  malev- 
olent spirits.  'No  sentiment  of  affection,  no  sense 
of  gratitude,  no  aspiration  for  holiness  is  theirs, 
but  in  the  midst  of  architectural  beauty  and  the 
sweetest  harmony  of  sound  servile  fear  is  seeking 
by  painful  journeyings  and  lavish  expenditures 
to  placate  the  evil  spirits,  and  thus  avert  their 
sinister  purposes  either  from  the  devotee  or  those 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  135 

near  to  him  of  kin.  There  is  not  a  scintilla  of  love, 
not  a  thought  of  helpfulness,  not  a  suggestion  of 
sympathy;  and  what  can  be  the  character  of  the 
abodes  dominated  by  a  religion  in  which  fear  is 
the  actuating  motive  to  worship? 

The  domination  of  fear  is  even  more  manifest 
in  the  Hindu  religions.  While  in  Calcutta  dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1897-98  I  attended  Christmas 
morning  service  at  ^ve  o'clock  in  the  Daramtalla 
Street  Church.  The  main  audience  room  was  well 
fdled  with  natives  and  foreigners  who  had  come 
to  show  their  love  for  Jesus,  their  Creator  and  Re- 
deemer, and  to  celebrate  his  nativity.  The  old,  old 
story  of  inexhaustible  sweetness  was  read,  hymns 
of  praise  were  sung,  prayers  breathing  confession 
and  thanksgiving,  hunger  of  heart  and  loyalty  of 
soul  were  offered,  and  testimonies  to  God's  good- 
ness were  given  by  many.  The  hour  quickly 
passed,  permeated  with  heavenly  peace  and  fellow- 
ship. At  the  close  of  the  service  Dr.  Warn  in- 
vited the  entire  congregation  to  the  parsonage  to 
cJiotahazari,  that  is,  little  breakfast,  consisting  of 
a  cup  of  tea,  a  banana  or  an  orange,  and  "a  toast." 

I  had  made  an  arrangement  with  a  friend  to  go 
after  service  to  the  Kalighat,  where  sacrifices  are 
regularly  offered  to  the  goddess  Kali.  As  we 
passed  the  telegraph  office  I  stopped  long  enough 
to  send  a  Christmas  greeting  to  my  family  in  the 
United  States,      The  message  started  from  Cal- 


136     GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

cutta  at  twenty  minutes  past  eight  Christmas 
morning,  and  they  received  it  at  my  home  in  Balti- 
more at  half  past  eleven  o'clock  the  night  before 
Christmas,  so  they  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing 
I  had  been  well  the  next  day. 

Calcutta  received  its  name  from  the  Kalighat, 
which  is  about  two  miles  from  the  center  of  the 
city.  According  to  one  account  in  their  sacred 
writings,  Kali  was  the  wife  of  Seva,  and  daughter 
of  Himavati,  the  Himalaya  Mountains.  She  de- 
stroyed herself  because  of  a  slight  her  father 
showed  her  husband.  Seva  journeyed  through 
India  carrying  her  dead  body  on  his  shoulder, 
to  show  the  cruelty  of  her  father,  and  at  every 
place  he  stopped  for  a  night  a  plague  broke  out, 
till  Krishna,  the  seventh  incarnation  of  Brahm, 
cut  her  body  into  fifty  pieces,  and  scattered  them 
broadcast  over  the  land.  Wherever  one  of  these 
pieces  fell  a  temple  sprang  up,  and  the  Kalighat 
stands  where  the  second  toe  of  her  left  foot  is  said 
to  have  fallen.  The  present  temple,  of  red  sand- 
stone, is  about  three  hundred  years  old,  and  its 
appearance  suggests  neither  beauty  nor  grandeur. 

The  goddess  has  two  characteristics,  the  one 
mild  and  the  other  fierce,  but  it  is  for  the  latter 
she  is  worshiped  as  Durga,  the  inaccessible;  Kali, 
the  cruel ;  Chandika,  the  fierce ;  Bhairavi,  the  ter- 
rible one.  The  thugs  who  used  to  kill  unsuspect- 
ing travelers  were  under  her  protection,  and  made 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  137 

their  offerings  to  her  before  setting  out  to  waylay 
their  victims,  and  expected  her  to  protect  them 
from  detection.  She  delights  in  any  kind  of  blood, 
but  especially  in  human  blood,  and  thousands  of 
victims  were  offered  to  her  before  the  British  gov- 
ernment prohibited  the  offering  of  human  sacri- 
fices, but  it  is  said  there  is  not  a  Bengali  family 
of  prominence  in  Calcutta  from  some  member  of 
which  a  libation  of  blood  has  not  been  presented 
to  her.  You  may  offer  to  her  a  buffalo  or  goat 
and  secretly  call  it  by  the  name  of  an  enemy,  real 
or  fancied,  and  she  is  supposed  to  see  to  it  that 
the  person  thus  named  will  die  within  the  year. 

Behind  the  temple,  say  eight  feet  away,  is  a 
building  about  twenty  feet  square,  open  on  the 
four  sides,  with  its  roof  supported  by  columns. 
The  floor  is  thirty  inches  or  more  above  the  pave- 
ment, and  so-called  "holy  men"  and  priests  sit 
there,  reading  the  sacred  writings,  or  reciting 
prayers.  Behind  this  building  is  the  place  of 
sacrifice.  The  goats,  which  are  kept  in  pens  near 
by,  are  taken  to  the  river,  ceremonially  cleansed, 
and  sold  to  the  worshipers.  When  the  fees  have 
been  agreed  upon,  and  the  sacrifice  is  ready  to  be 
offered,  the  goat  is  taken  to  a  block  in  which  are 
two  firmly  fastened  wooden  uprights,  four  inches 
apart,  with  holes  through  them  in  which  a  wooden 
bar  can  be  slipped  above  the  neck  of  the  victim, 
to  hold  its  head  in  position.     The  assistant  draws 


138    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

the  front  feet  of  the  goat  back  and  above  its 
shoulders,  and  takes  them  in  his  left  hand,  grasps 
the  hind  feet  in  his  right  hand,  and,  lifting  the 
animal  with  a  swinging  movement,  throws  its  neck 
between  the  uprights.  The  one  who  is  to  slay  the 
offering  slips  the  bar  in  place,  and,  holding  a 
knife  with  a  blade  twenty  inches  long,  edge  up, 
slips  it  along  the  back  of  the  goat  till  it  comes  to 
the  front  of  the  shoulder  blade,  and  then,  swiftly 
raising  and  turning  the  knife,  strikes  off  the  head 
with  a  single  blow.  The  goat,  bleating  piteously 
in  its  painful  position,  continues  to  bleat  for  some 
time  after  the  head  has  been  severed  from  its  body. 
As  the  blood  spurts  from  the  body,  the  onlookers 
vie  with  each  other  in  shrieking,  "Jai,  jai,  Kali, 
jai.  Kali,  jai' — ^'Victory,  victory,  victory  to 
Kali."  The  shriek  is  the  most  metallic,  Satanic, 
soul-sickening  cry  I  have  ever  heard  from  human 
throats,  for  it  has  in  it  so  much  of  hate  and  fear, 
with  no  suggestion  of  reverence  or  love. 

When  we  had  watched  the  sacrificing  for  awhile 
we  found  the  high  priest  and  told  him  we  wished 
to  see  the  goddess.  Kali.  The  priest  spoke  excel- 
lent English.  It  was  book  English,  pure  and 
classic,  entirely  free  from  slang  which  cheapens 
the  talk  and  vitiates  the  taste  of  so  many  Ameri- 
cans. We  started  to  go  between  the  prayer  house 
and  temple  to  the  gate  in  front  of  the  image.  All 
about  in  every  direction  was  a  crowd  of  worshipers. 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  139 

There  were  women  and  men,  aged  and  infirm^  who 
had  their  grandchildren  by  the  hand  or  in  their 
arms,  kneeling  in  prayer,  that  they  and  theirs 
might  be  saved  from  evil.  There  were  yonng  men 
and  maidens,  apparently  just  crossing  the  thresh- 
old of  the  broader  life,  kneeling  and  praying, 
that  they  might  avert  the  baneful  influence  of 
Kali's  malign  pleasure.  All  classes,  educated  and 
ignorant,  rich  and  poor,  were  bowing  together 
with  their  eyes  toward  her  shrine. 

When  they  saw  us  approaching  the  door  with 
the  high  priest,  many  of  them,  hoping  to  get  a 
glimpse  of  the  goddess,  arose,  pressed  forward, 
and  wedged  themselves  between  us  and  the  temple. 
Two  lusty  fellows,  possibly  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  edged  their  way  through  the  crowd  and  cried, 
^^Stand  back;  let  the  priest  advance."  When  the 
crowd  did  not  and  it  seemed  could  not  move  back, 
they  shoved  them  aside  as  far  as  they  could,  and 
then  mercilessly  beat  those  nearest  at  hand.  Their 
clubs  fell  on  the  shoulders  of  old  women  and  men, 
and  all  the  worshipers  whom  they  could  reach, 
with  a  sickening  thud  which  bruised  them  cruelly, 
and  started  the  blood  at  times.  But  why  not? 
They  had  gathered  to  worship  the  goddess  of 
cruelty,  and  it  was  all  in  keeping  with  the  spirit 
of  the  place. 

When  the  crowd  had  been  driven  back  the  doors 
were  thrown  open  and  revealed  the  most  horribly 


140    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

disgusting  sight  I  have  ever  looked  upon.  There 
stood  the  goddess  in  the  figure  of  a  woman,  dark 
blue  or  black,  about  twelve  feet  high,  with  four 
arms  and  hands.  In  one  hand  she  held  a  drawn 
sword  smeared  with  blood ;  in  another  she  held  by 
his  hair  the  head  of  a  giant  she  had  slain;  one 
hand  was  beckoning  the  crowd  to  approach,  while 
another  was  repelling  them,  showing  her  dual 
character ;  her  long,  disheveled  hair,  blown  by  the 
wind,  waved  like  writhing  snakes  about  her  droop- 
ing shoulders ;  her  eyes  were  bloodshot,  like  the 
eyes  of  a  drunkard  after  a  debauch ;  two  dead  men 
in  miniature  hung  at  the  sides  of  her  face  for  ear- 
rings; a  necklace  of  human  skulls  reached  to  her 
knees;  her  tongue,  protruding  to  her  chin,  had 
been  smeared  with  blood,  as  were  her  breasts ;  her 
only  garment,  if  such  it  might  be  called,  was  a 
girdle  of  dead  men's  hands  about  her  waist,  and 
she  was  standing  upon  the  prostrate  form  of  her 
husband,  whom  she  is  said  to  have  trampled  to 
death.  There  stood  the  hideous  monstrosity  whose 
decoration  had  exhausted  malevolent  ingenuity, 
the  goddess  of  cruelty  to  whom  multiplied  mil- 
lions of  the  people  of  India  make  their  prayers. 
So  repulsive  was  the  appearance  of  the  goddess 
that  a  shudder  seized  men,  women,  and  children 
alike,  and  they  recoiled  with  affright,  but  fearing 
their  manifest  dread  would  displease  her  whom 
they  had  come  to  worship,  they  nerved  themselves 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  141 

and  stared  at  her  with  a  steely  gaze  of  desperate 
earnestness  which  poorly  concealed  the  disgust 
upon  many  of  their  countenances.  Yet  she  is  the 
object  of  their  worship,  and  it  is  little  wonder  if 
their  lives,  like  hers,  become  sterile  of  the  kindly 
and  tender  emotions. 

In  the  month  of  February,  at  the  time  of  one  of 
their  great  religious  festivals,  I  mounted  an  ele- 
phant and  went  out  to  the  bathing  Ghat  at  Alla- 
habad, where  three  sacred  rivers,  the  Ganges,  the 
Jumna,  and  a  river  which  runs  in  their  imagina- 
tion and  which  is  said  to  join  the  other  two  at 
their  confluence,  make  a  place  exceptionally  sacred. 
The  Ganges  has  several  banks  rising  one  above  the 
other,  the  highest  being  thirty  feet  or  more  above 
the  lowest.  I  stood  upon  the  upper  bank  and 
looked  over  the  plain  toward  the  river,  which  at 
that  season  was  flowing  between  its  lowest  banks. 
This  plain  was  not  covered  with  sand  but  with  an 
alluvial  deposit  left  by  the  river  as  it  receded. 
This  had  been  trampled  by  the  feet  of  the  crowds 
until  it  was  as  fine  as  flour,  so  fine  you  could  not 
feel  the  slightest  grit  when  pressed  between  your 
fingers,  and  it  floated  away  like  smoke  from  a  puff 
of  your  breath.  There  was  a  vast  multitude  of 
men,  women,  and  children,  dressed  in  gaudy  cos- 
tumes, or  very  scantily  clothed.  It  was  estimated 
that  there  were  over  one  hundred  thousand  of  them. 
I  do  not  know,  I  cannot  tell  the  difference  between 


142    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

fifty  thousand  and  one  hundred  thousand  in  a 
crowd  like  that,  but  there  were  acres  and  acres  of 
them.  Here  and  there  were  long  avenues  kept 
clear,  that  those  who  wished  might  go  to  and  fro 
without  undue  detention  or  trampling  upon  each 
other.  Anxious  to  study  their  religion  as  they 
interpret  it  in  their  manner  and  objects  of  wor- 
ship, I  went  down  among  the  people.  Along  some 
of  the  avenues  beggars  were  obtrusively  advertis- 
ing their  deformities  and  infirmities,  and  appeal- 
ing for  gratuities,  while  along  other  avenues  the 
fakirs,  or  ^^holy  men,"  were  displaying  themselves 
and  their  claims  for  worship.  Each  beggar  had  a 
piece  of  cloth  eighteen  or  more  inches  square  lying 
in  front  of  him,  on  which  he  hoped  persons  in  the 
passing  crowds  would  cast  some  small  offering. 
So  I  said,  ^'If  I  tarry  here,  I  may  see  some  mani- 
festations of  charity,  for  there  surely  would  not  be 
such  large  provision  for  receiving  unless  there 
were  a  reasonable  basis  for  hope  of  help."  Pres- 
ently a  man  came  along  with  a  basket  of  rice  to 
give  to  those  beggars,  and  I  thought,  surely  this 
must  be  because  of  his  sympathy  for  them,  so  I 
followed  to  see  what  he  would  do.  As  he  ap- 
proached a  beggar — and  he  treated  them  all  alike 
• — he  took  a  handful  of  rice  and  looking  anywhere 
except  toward  the  poor  fellow,  tossed  the  rice  in  his 
general  direction,  in  the  most  indifferent  manner, 
without  the  slightest  effort  or  desire  to  drop  it  on 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  143 

the  cloth  in  front  of  him,  where  it  might  be 
gathered  up  without  loss  or  painful  effort.  This 
seemed  to  be  the  habit,  for  each  beggar  had  a  sieve 
made  of  rice  straws  with  which  he  was  trying  to 
separate  the  few  scattered  grains  from  the  dust 
about  him.  Perchance  he  was  a  leper  with  his 
hands  eaten  off,  or  paralyzed,  or  blind,  in  which 
case  a  small  child  beside  him  sifted  the  dust  for 
him. 

After  watching  and  considering  I  came  to 
understand  that  the  worshiper  was  not  primarily 
intending  that  rice  for  those  beggars,  and  it  was 
not  an  act  of  sympathy  at  all.  He  had  been  taught 
that  if  he  gave  away  some  rice,  he  would  secure  a 
corresponding  amount  of  merit  to  his  own  soul, 
and  as  a  commercial  act  he  was  giving  away  some 
rice,  disregardful  of  the  recipients,  selfishly  and 
solely  for  the  benefit  that  might  come  to  himself. 
He  knew  nothing  of  the  essential  principle  of 
benevolence  as  stated  in  the  promise,  '^Blessed  is 
he  that  considereth  the  poor,"  where  the  reward 
is  not  added  to  the  act  but  derived  from  it. 

While  I  was  meditating  on  the  scenes  about  me  a 
Hindu  of  exceptional  physique  drove  up,  attended 
by  two  sais,  or  runners.  He  was  dressed  in  Scotch 
tweed,  was  about  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height, 
and  light-colored,  with  clearly  defined  Aryan  fea- 
tures, which  proclaimed  his  high  caste.  His  horse 
was  a  splendid  high-stepper  imported  from  Aus- 


144    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

tralia;  he  rode  in  a  stylish  drag  which,  with  the 
silver-mounted  harness,  had  been  imported  from 
England,  and  in  the  back  of  his  drag  were  fifteen 
or  twenty  blankets  he  had  brought  to  give  the  beg- 
gars. Everything  pertaining  to  him  and  his  outfit 
indicated  intelligence  and  culture,  wealth  and  in- 
fluence, a  combination  which  should  interpret  his 
religion  at  its  best.  Inadequate  food,  scant  cloth- 
ing, and  the  enervation  of  disease  made  the  blood 
in  the  veins  of  the  beggars  thin  and  slow-creeping, 
so  that  nothing  could  be  more  acceptable  to  them 
than  a  blanket,  for,  while  the  days  were  warm,  the 
nights  were  very  chill. 

With  a  blanket  in  his  hand,  the  Hindu  went 
among  the  mendicants,  looking  where  its  bestowal 
would  best  interpret  his  purpose.  He  passed  men 
and  women  enfeebled  by  age,  others  incompetent, 
or  deformed  from  birth,  and  others  consumed  with 
leprosy  or  some  other  form  of  disease,  almost  ready 
to  pass  from  this  life.  But  the  aged  and  infirm, 
the  crippled  and  extremely  ill  did  not  appeal  to 
him;  he  passed  them  by  and  gave  the  blanket  to 
a  sturdy  young  fellow  who  should  have  been  in 
the  workhouse,  had  paganism  possessed  such  an  in- 
stitution. I  followed  him,  puzzled  to  detect  the 
basis  upon  which  he  bestowed  his  gratuities.  Pres- 
ently a  poor,  palsied  fellow  saw  him  coming  his 
way,  and  with  the  little  strength  he  could  com- 
mand rose  and  tottered  toward  him,  and  putting 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  145 

his  hands  together  in  the  attitude  of  prayer, 
pleaded  most  plaintively  for  a  blanket,  saying, 
^'Sahib !  Sahib !  Sahib !"  He  was  aged  and  de- 
formed, but  the  Hindu,  casting  upon  him  a  look 
of  contempt,  passed  on  and  gave  the  blanket  to 
another.  With  the  little  strength  the  poor  fellow 
had  left,  he  got  around  in  front  of  the  Hindu 
again,  and  begged  a  second  time,  but  received  only 
a  look  cruelly  cold  and  disgusted,  while  again  the 
blanket  was  given  to  one  of  the  lusty  young  beg- 
gars. With  great  effort  the  poor  old  man  got  in 
front  the  third  time,  and  thought  the  blanket  was 
going  to  be  given  to  him  because  the  Hindu  looked 
a  little  less  disgusted,  and  so  he  reached  out  his 
hand  for  the  gift,  when  that  stalwart  Hindu,  who 
had  come  there  to  distribute  his  offerings  as  a  re- 
ligious act,  smote  the  poor  old  palsied  beggar  man 
a  terrific  blow  in  the  face  with  his  clinched  fist. 
The  blood  burst  from  his  thin,  lacerated  lips,  as 
he  lay  senseless  at  the  feet  of  the  worshiping 
Hindu,  who  passed  on  unheeding,  and  the  incident 
caused  not  a  ripple  of  surprise  in  the  crowd  about. 
The  Hindu,  without  the  most  remote  thought  of 
sympathy  or  love,  was  selfishly  giving  his  blankets 
to  the  strongest  and  youngest  he  saw,  those  who 
would  probably  live  the  longest,  and  say  the  most 
prayers  to  his  credit. 

I  turned  away,  heavy  of  heart,  and  went  to  the 
avenue  along  which  were  ranged  the  fakirs,  or  so- 


146    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

called  ^'holy  men,"  who  had  worshiped  their  gods 
so  faithfully  that  they  were  supposed  to  have  be- 
come like  them,  and  were  worshiped  as  their  repre- 
sentatives. There  was  one  standing  on  his  left 
foot,  with  the  sole  of  his  right  foot  resting  against 
his  left  knee.  He  leaned  his  chest  against  a  board 
about  eighteen  inches  long,  which  was  fastened  by 
a  rope  at  each  end  to  a  post  eight  or  ten  feet  high 
set  in  the  ground  behind  him.  The  ropes  passed 
under  his  arms  and  kept  him  from  falling  while 
he  slept.  There  he  had  been  standing  for  six 
years  as  an  act  of  worship  to  his  god,  fed  by  his 
devotees,  and  had  become  so  holy  that  they  wor- 
shiped him  rather  than  the  god  himself. 

Near  by  another  was  sitting  on  the  ground  with 
his  left  hand  uplifted.  He  had  been  holding  it  in 
that  position  for  four  years.  The  nails  had  grown 
four  or  five  inches  long  and  curled  around  between 
his  fingers,  the  muscles  of  his  arm  had  atrophied, 
and  the  joints  had  become  rigid.  I  took  hold  of 
his  arm  and  tried  to  move  it,  but  the  joints  had 
lost  their  suppleness  and  the  arm  was  as  immov- 
ably attached  to  his  body  as  the  branch  to  a  tree. 

Another  was  lying  upon  a  bed  which  consisted 
of  a  board  about  eighteen  inches  wide  and  four 
feet  long,  into  which  had  been  driven  very  firmly 
iron  spikes  three  and  a  half  inches  long  and  one 
and  one  quarter  inches  apart.  The  man  was  lying 
on  the  spikes  with  nothing  but  a  loin  cloth  about 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  147 

his  person.  I  said  to  him,  ^'What  are  you  doing 
here  ?"  He  said,  ^'I  am  worshiping  my  god."  I 
asked,  "Who  is  the  god  who  likes  to  be  worshiped 
in  this  way?"  He  replied,  "I  am  worshiping 
Davi,  the  same  god  you  worship,  only  you  call  your 
god  Jesus."  I  said,  "O  no !  the  God  I  worship  is 
the  God  of  love  and  sympathy  and  helpfulness. 
He  does  not  desire  to  see  his  creatures  suffer,  but 
is  long-suffering  toward  them  and  delights  in 
mercy." 

We  had  an  interesting  conversation,  in  which  I 
told  him  about  Christianity  and  the  love  of  Jesus, 
after  which  I  said,  "I  understand  you  have  be- 
come very  holy;  turn  over  and  let  me  see  what 
effect  these  spikes  have  on  you."  His  skin  seemed 
thickened  or  calloused  like  the  palm  of  your  hand, 
and  the  spikes  made  a  dent  in  it  as  they  might  have 
upon  a  hand  toughened  by  manual  labor.  I  asked 
him,  "Does  it  hurt  you  very  much?"  He  said, 
"When  I  first  commenced  it  nearly  killed  me,  and 
as  long  as  there  was  any  sin  in  my  body  I  could 
scarcely  stand  the  pain,  but  in  about  eighteen 
months,  after  I  got  all  the  sin  out  of  my  body,  it 
ceased  to  hurt."  He  did  not  tell  me  that  he  had 
taken  henna,  a  strong  narcotic,  to  deaden  the  pain 
while  he  was  getting  toughened.  While  we  were 
talking  I  loosened  one  of  the  spikes  down  near  his 
knee  where  he  could  not  see  me  doing  it,  and  then 
I  said,  "I  wish  you  would  let  me  have  one  of  the 


148    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

spikes  out  of  your  bed."  He  said:  "I  cannot.  I 
have  been  lying  upon  these  spikes  for  nine  years, 
and  my  touch  has  made  them  as  holy  as  I  am. 
They  have  touched  the  board  and  made  it  holy  as 
they  are,  and  if  you  were  to  try  to  pull  one  of  these 
spikes  out,  the  spikes,  the  board,  and  I  would  all 
come  up  together."  I  replied :  ^'That  might  be  so 
for  a  Hindu,  but  I  am  an  American,  and  there 
is  a  spike  I  think  wants  to  go  with  me  to  America. 
!N"ow  look,"  and  I  took  hold  of  the  very  tip  of  the 
spike  I  had  loosened,  and  it  came  out  of  his  bed 
with  scarcely  a  touch.  I  hardly  think  he  would 
have  been  more  surprised  if  I  had  struck  him. 
Then  I  said :  ^'I  want  you  to  let  me  have  this  one 
to  take  to  America.  We  do  not  sleep  on  spikes  in 
America,  and  if  I  could  show  this  one  out  of  your 
bed  some  of  our  people  might  be  persuaded  to  try 
it."  He  replied,  ^'If  I  were  to  sell  you  that  spike 
it  would  be  a  sin,  and  all  the  pain  would  come  back 
into  my  body."  I  took  a  small  coin  from  my 
pocket,  and  said :  "I  have  not  said  anything  about 
your  selling  this  spike  to  me.  I  want  to  make  you 
a  present  of  this  coin,  and  you  can  do  with  it  as 
you  please;  and  you  make  me  a  present  of  this 
spike,  and  I  can  do  with  it  as  I  please."  He  put 
his  hand  over  his  face  and  winked  through  his 
fingers,  and  we  exchanged  presents. 

While  this  was  going  on  his  poor  deluded  fol- 
lowers were  kneeling  about  us  and  making  their 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  149 

offerings  to  him,  because  he  seemed  superior  to 
pain,  and  they  hoped  he  might  have  influence  for 
them  with  their  gods  who  delight  in  cruelty.  If 
any  one  of  these  devotees  endures  his  self-imposed 
torture  for  twelve  years,  he  will  have  accomplished 
a  cycle,  and  he  believes  that  if  he  accomplishes 
twelve  cycles  he  will  be  absorbed  into  Buddha, 
which  is  to  them  the  height  of  aspiration.  It  takes 
one  hundred  and  forty-four  years  of  torture  in 
twelve  various  forms  to  secure  the  extinction  of 
one's  personality,  and  that  is  the  acme  of  their  re- 
ligion. 

The  sunshine  in  that  land  is  so  deadly  to  a  for- 
eigner that  if  it  falls  directly  upon  him,  he  is 
likely  to  suffer  from  brain  fever ;  and  if  even  its 
reflection  falls  upon  him,  it  may  make  him  ill. 
The  natives  have  lived  there  so  many  centuries 
they  can  go  about  with  bared  heads  and  suffer  no 
inconvenience.  But  if  some  one  among  them 
wishes  to  worship  his  god  by  subjecting  himself  to 
the  most  severe  pain,  he  will  sit  upon  a  rock  or  the 
sand,  and  without  taking  nourishment  of  any  kind 
he  will  keep  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  sun  from  the 
time  it  first  rises  while  it  climbs  the  bright 
empyrean  and  descends  behind  the  western  ho- 
rizon. During  this  time  he  neither  moves  nor 
winks  his  eyes  more  than  necessity  requires.  Dur- 
ing the  night  he  may  take  food,  and  rest  if  his 
aching  eyeballs  will  permit,  but  the  next  morning 


150    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

his  eyes  again  salute  the  first  appearance  of  the 
rising  sun,  and  he  never  closes  them  nor  turns 
them  away  for  an  instant  until  it  sets  behind  the 
western  sky.  This  he  continues  to  do  till  it  burns 
blisters  on  his  pupils;  still  he  continues  his  daily 
vigil,  looking  toward  the  sun  till  these  blisters  be- 
come putrid  sores,  his  eyes  run  out,  brain  fever 
sets  in,  and  if  he  has  a  strong  constitution  and 
does  not  die,  but  recovers,  then  with  empty  sockets 
day  by  day  he  turns  his  eyeless  face  toward  the 
east,  and  with  the  light  forever  extinguished,  me- 
chanically turning  his  head,  follows  the  sun  as  it 
crosses  the  heavens  and  sets  at  the  close  of  day. 
This  he  does  to  worship  his  god,  and  in  return  re- 
ceives the  worship  of  his  followers. 

These  fakirs,  who  are  feared  and  worshiped 
because  they  have  distorted  or  cruelly  limited  the 
use  of  various  members  of  their  bodies,  and  are 
apparently  superior  to  pain,  appeal  to  the  super- 
stition of  the  people,  and  feed  upon  their  credulity. 
They  make  no  literary  nor  devotional  contribution 
to  the  uplift  of  humanity,  nor  addition  of  any 
kind  to  the  wealth  or  advancement  of  their  people. 
Malodorous  and  deformed,  lazy  and  willful,  im- 
pure and  vicious  as  are  most  of  them,  these  so- 
called  "holy  men"  who  interpret  their  gods  to  the 
people  by  mutilated  bodies  and  uncomplaining 
endurance  of  pain,  are  a  cancer  and  a  curse,  and 
there  are  ^ve  million  of  them  in  India  alone. 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  151 

If  you  had  in  your  employ  persons  to  whom 
you  had  furnished  the  most  delicate  instruments 
and  appliances  with  which  to  work,  and  they  de- 
liberately destroyed  them,  asserting  that  they  were 
trying  to  please  you,  what  would  you  think  of 
them?  And  yet  here  are  people  whom  God  has 
enriched  with  feet,  hands,  eyes,  and  bodies  with 
which  to  praise  him  through  service,  and  they 
deliberately  destroy  them  by  what  they  call  acts 
of  worship,  and  are  worshiped  by  their  fellows  in 
proportion  as  they  mutilate  these  trusts,  all  be- 
cause they  believe  their  gods  to  be  gods  of  cruelty, 
who  rejoice  in  their  suffering,  and  they,  in  turn, 
interpret  in  their  places  of  abode  the  spirit  which 
they  worship.  Whatever  personal  devotion  there 
may  be  in  exceptional  cases,  there  is  no  genuine 
home,  in  the  full,  rich  significance  of  the  term, 
where  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  ^'who  came  that  men 
might  have  life,  and  have  it  more  abundantly," 
has  not  revealed  that  love  which  is  the  "new  com- 
mandment." 

How  does  the  religion  of  Christ  affect  these 
people?  Can  it  do  anything  for  them?  As  food 
relieves  hunger,  as  light  pleases  the  eye,  as  music 
brings  its  joyful  harmonies  to  the  responsive  soul, 
Christianity  is  suited  to  their  every  need.  Let  me 
give  you  a  typical  incident. 

Jacob  Jacobs  was  the  son  of  a  pariah,  an  out- 
cast, a  scavenger.     Going  along  the  street  when  a 


152     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

little  fellow,  about  four  years  of  age,  he  passed  d 
Sunday  school  and  heard  the  singing.  Attracted 
by  the  music,  he  stopped  to  listen,  and  the  teacher, 
seeing  his  interest,  asked  him  to  come  in.  He  was 
clothed  in  the  inadequate  fold  of  a  single  string 
about  his  waist,  and  he  went  into  a  Sunday  school 
where  all  the  children  under  six  years  of  age  wore 
nothing  but  their  complexions,  decorated  occa- 
sionally with  a  smile.  There  they  sat  and  smiled 
and  wondered,  and  were  instructed  in  the  truths 
revealed  in  the  Bible.  His  teacher  asked  him  to 
come  the  next  Sunday,  which  he  did,  and  the  next, 
and  many  more,  and  they  persuaded  him  to  attend 
the  mission  day  school.  He  was  responsive  and  in- 
dustrious, and  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  things 
that  were  being  taught — simple  fundamentals  of 
education,  together  with  the  profound  truths  of 
Christ.  A  child  can  grasp  these  to  the  extent  of 
its  needs  as  well  as  a  philosopher,  and  even  better. 
So  this  son  of  a  poor  outcast  passed  from  form  to 
form,  through  the  primary  to  the  secondary  school, 
and  completed  the  course  in  the  high  school  with 
a  substratum  of  gospel  truth  underlying  his  educa- 
tion, to  which  the  Holy  Spirit  gave  his  vitalizing 
power,  and  Jacob  was  transformed  into  the  like- 
ness of  the  Son  of  God.  The  Hindu  religion  had 
stamped  him  an  outcast  because  his  father  had 
been  born  an  outcast,  and  within  human  power 
that  stamp  was  indelible ;  but  through  the  quicken- 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  153 

ing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  he  became  a  joint  heir  with 
Jesus  Christ.  In  the  power  of  his  newly  found 
life,  master  of  himself,  he  passed  on  to  and  through 
the  government  school,  and  after  some  experience 
in  teaching  he  was  made  head  master  in  the  mis- 
sion high  school  at  Moradabad.  There  was  a 
wonder  in  India :  Jacob  Jacobs,  the  son  of  a  pariah, 
had  become  transformed,  conscientious,  indus- 
trious, cultured,  capable,  alert,  because  love  domi- 
nated his  heart,  substituted  hope  for  fear,  begat 
within  him  dcfiniteness  of  purpose,  keenness  of  in- 
terest, responsiveness,  resourcefulness,  and  conse- 
cration to  the  highest  ideal.  It  came  to  pass  after 
a  very  few  years  that  every  boy  who  went  up  from 
that  school  passed  the  government  examinations. 
It  occurred  the  next  year  also.  That  was  very  un- 
usual, and  presently  it  was  bruited  about  the  city 
that  for  two  years  every  boy  who  had  been  recom- 
mended from  the  Moradabad  high  school  had  passed 
the  government  examinations.  There  were  some 
Brahman  and  Mohammedan  teachers  in  that  city 
who  said,  ^^This  will  never  do;  we  must  undercut 
the  influence  of  Jacobs  or  we  will  lose  our  patron- 
age." So  they  had  some  large  placards  printed  in 
different  colors,  on  which  they  stated  that  Jacobs 
was  the  son  of  an  outcast,  that  if  he  should  correct 
or  touch  a  high-caste  boy,  the  boy  would  lose  his 
caste,  the  parents  would  suffer  pollution  also,  and 
to  prevent  this  dire  result  all  high-caste  boys  ought 


154     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

to  be  withdrawn  from  the  influence  of  the  pariah 
teacher.  These  they  had  posted  all  through  the 
city,  and  one  was  placed  on  each  side  of  the  door 
in  the  high  school  where  Jacobs  taught,  so  that 
every  child  who  came  that  morning  should  see 
them. 

Jacob  Jacobs  had  the  third  blessing.  You  have 
heard  a  great  deal  about  the  first  blessing,  so  called, 
which  is  justification  by  faith;  and  the  second 
blessing,  so  called,  which  is  sanctification  by  the 
Spirit;  but  Jacobs  possessed  the  third  blessing. 
Some  peoi:)le  try  to  get  the  second  blessing  before 
they  get  the  first,  but  it  never  comes  that  way,  and 
there  are  some  people  who  get  so  much  of  the  first, 
you  could  scarcely  discover  they  have  not  the 
second ;  but  Jacobs  had  the  third  blessing.  The 
third  blessing  is  very  rare ;  sometimes  it  comes  be- 
fore the  first,  sometimes  after  the  first,  and  before 
the  second,  and  sometimes  it  comes  after  the  sec- 
ond ;  frequently  it  never  comes  in  this  world  at  all. 
It  is  the  blessing  of  common  sense.  Jacob  Jacobs 
had  a  great,  workable  stock  of  this  third  blessing, 
common  sense.  When  the  Almighty  finds  a  man 
who  attains  unto  this  third  blessing  he  always  has 
an  agent  through  whom  he  does  things ;  but  even 
the  Almighty  has  a  hard  time  doing  things  which 
are  worth  while  with  a  man  who  does  not  have 
common  sense. 

Jacobs  knew  the  limitations  of  his  calling;  he 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  155 

knew  he  was  not  set  for  the  defense  of  himself; 
he  knew  he  was  set  for  the  illustration  of  the  gos- 
pel,  and  he  knew  also  that  the  Lord  would  take 
care  of  him  if  he  was  faithful  to  his  commission. 
He  did  not  become  angry  and  say,  ^^I  am  as  good 
as  the  people  who  put  up  those  posters."  E^either, 
in  chagrin,  did  he  tear  his  hair — that  was  worn 
short ;  and  he  would  not  have  torn  it  if  it  had  been 
long.  Duty  led  him  between  those  posters,  there 
he  went  and  opened  his  school  as  usual;  for  he 
knew  it  was  written,  "Give  place  unto  wrath.  .  .  ^ 
Vengeance  is  mine ;  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord," 
and  he  was  sure  the  Lord  would  satisfy  the  claims 
of  justice  in  mercy  better  than  he  could  if  he 
should  undertake  to  do  it  himself.  His  commis- 
sion was  to  illustrate  his  faith  in  God,  by  making 
his  school  a  success.  So  he  went  in  and  taught  his 
school  as  if  nothing  had  occurred.  School  was  dis- 
missed ;  and  he  taught  it  the  next  day,  and  school 
was  dismissed;  and  those  posters  disappeared 
about  as  they  went  up,  he  didn't  know  how.  But 
the  posters  had  made  an  impression ;  the  Brahman 
and  Mohammedan  bankers,  and  other  business 
men,  the  cultured  and  rich  men  of  Moradabad, 
asked,  "Why  are  these  posters  abusing  Jacob 
Jacobs  placed  all  over  the  city  at  this  time?" 
Others,  whose  sons  were  at  the  school,  answered: 
"Don't  you  know  why  that  is?  Jacob  Jacobs  is 
the  head  master  of  the  Moradabad  high  school,  and 


156     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

every  boy  he  has  sent  up  to  the  government  exam- 
inations for  the  past  two  years  has  passed.  The 
Brahman  and  Mohammedan  teachers  have  put 
these  posters  up  for  fear  all  their  pupils  will  go  to 
Jacobs'  school."  And  these  shrewd  business  men 
said,  "You  say  every  boy  he  sent  up  passed?" 
The  reply  was  "Yes."  "Well,"  they  said,  "that  is 
where  we  want  our  sons  to  go."  And  its  halls  were 
soon  crowded  so  that  the  school  has  been  self-sup- 
porting ever  since.  The  Lord  would  work  many 
miracles  of  grace  for  us  if  we  did  not  inter- 
fere and  spoil  his  plan,  that  is,  if  we  had  common 
sense  enough  to  do  our  allotted  work  faithfully, 
and  let  the  Lord  care  for  his  servant  in  his  own 
way. 

A  young  woman  whose  parents  were  outcasts 
had  gone  through  the  mission  schools,  become  a 
Christian,  and  graduated  from  the  high  school; 
she  also  graduated  from  the  Lady  DufPerin  Hos- 
pital at  Delhi,  and  just  about  this  time  returned 
to  Moradabad  as  a  trained  nurse.  It  is  marvelous 
what  beautiful  exactness  there  is  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  Spirit-filled  lives.  When  this  woman  re- 
turned with  her  diploma  the  head  nurse  of  the 
hospital  at  Moradabad  was  very  ill,  and  there  were 
some  extreme  cases  in  the  wards  which  needed 
special  care.  The  physicians  were  anxious  to  find 
a  nurse  very  promptly,  and  some  one  said,  "Miss 
So-and-So,  who  recently  graduated  at  Lady  Duf- 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  157 

ferin  Hospital,  has  just  come  home,"  and  in  the 
emergency  she  was  sent  for  to  assist  until  they 
could  find  some  one  of  larger  experience.  She 
stayed  till  the  end  of  the  week,  and  they  had  not 
found  anyone  else.  That  was  part  of  the  divine 
schedule.  The  physicians  said :  ^'The  cases  are  as 
critical  as  they  were  when  she  came,  and  she  is  do- 
ing so  well  she  must  stay  a  month.  Any  change 
would  be  dangerous."  So  she  stayed,  and  proved 
to  be  so  efficient  that  they  made  her  head  nurse  at 
a  salary  of  125  rupees  per  month. 

Many  persons  had  asked  Jacobs  why  he  did  not 
marry.  He  had  common  sense,  and  replied  that 
he  had  no  time  to  get  married  while  he  was  getting 
his  education. 

It  is  a  disgrace  in  India  for  a  woman  to  pass 
fifteen,  and  among  the  low  castes  to  pass  twelve 
years  of  age,  without  being  married,  so  this  trained 
nurse  had  been  asked  very  frequently  why  she  did 
not  marry.  She  also  replied,  ^'I  have  no  time 
while  I  am  preparing  for  my  lifework."  She,  too, 
had  the  grace  of  common  sense.  These  two  had 
had  an  understanding  for  years,  and  when  in  the 
providence  of  God  she  became  head  nurse,  she  and 
the  head  master  were  married,  and  through  the 
development  of  a  Christian  family  Moradabad 
was  enriched  by  the  creation  of  a  Christian  home. 
She  is  still  nursing,  and  is  called  to  attend  Brah- 
man women,  Mohammedan  women,  and  the  for- 


158    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

eign  women,  for  while  there  is  no  power  on  earth 
which  can  make  a  low-caste  person  superior  to  the 
condition  of  his  birth,  when  the  Lord  God  puts 
love  into  the  humblest  soul  it  is  lifted  into  efficient 
manhood  or  womanhood,  for  the  indwelling  love 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  universal  dynamic  which 
transforms  all  with  whom  it  abides  into  the  life  of 
righteousness  and  power. 

^^The  gospel  has  completely  transformed  entire 
tribes  and  whole  nations,  delivering  them  from 
idolatry.  It  has  turned  their  swords  into  plow- 
shares, their  rule  of  might  into  a  law  fashioned 
by  Christian  principles ;  it  has  naturalized  hu- 
manity and  civilization  in  their  midst." 

Buddhism  is  a  form  of  atheism  with  fear  as  its 
motive,  and  makes  its  appeal  to  selfishness.  Hin- 
duism is  a  form  of  pantheism,  with  fear  and 
lust  as  its  chief  characteristics.  "The  central 
fact  of  the  Indonesian  religions  is  a  feeling 
of  dependence,  amounting  to  fear,  not  of  the 
Deity  but  of  sinister  powers,  spirits,  and  souls. 
It  is  fear  of  these  powers  which  alone  impels  those 
heathen  to  seek  ways  and  means  of  averting  their 
pernicious  influence."  "Prayer  with  the  Hindus 
is  not  a  question  of  divine  worship  freely  offered, 
but  a  necessary  means  of  averting  a  calamity.  The 
average  deity  must  be  appeased,  his  jealousy 
averted,  his  ill  will  set  aside.  He  does  not  pray  to 
him  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  word,  but  attempts 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  159 

to  conjure  or  constrain  him,  to  negotiate  with  him, 
or  to  flatter  him''  (Warneck). 

Confucianism  in  its  essence  is  agnostic  with  a 
materialistic  development,  but  is  inconsistent  with 
itself  and  paralyzing.  Mohammedanism  is  a  form 
of  monotheism,  but  has  emphasized  sensuality  as 
its  prime  motive  and  the  sword  as  its  chief  evangel. 
^^To  the  animist,  what  threatens  most  danger  de- 
mands most  careful  service  and  propitiation." 
^'Buddhism,  Confucianism,  and  Mohammedanism 
embody  numerous  forms  of  animistic  origin,  and 
have  nowhere  conquered  this  most  tenacious  of  all 
forms  of  religion ;  they  have  not  even  entered  into 
conflict  with  it,  it  is  only  overcome  by  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ." 

The  various  religions  of  the  ancients,  whether 
Greek,  Roman,  Egyptian,  Syrian  or  what  not, 
were  a  mingling  of  fear  and  lust,  and  knew  not 
love.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  meanings  attached 
to  the  various  words  for  ^^love"  as  used  in  the 
Greek,  Latin,  and  every  language  which  attempts 
to  designate  it.  In  the  entire  catalogue  there  is 
not  one  term  which  could  be  used  with  its  usual 
meaning  to  express  the  love  of  Christ. 

Christianity  stands  alone.  It  occupies  a  unique 
position  among  the  religions  of  the  world.  It  is 
the  only  one  which  enthrones  love  as  its  central 
dominating  principle.  In  all  others  man  is  at  best 
but  groping  after  God  if  haply  he  may  find  him. 


160    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

while  in  Christianity  God  is  revealed  as  engaged 
in  a  loving,  persistent  quest  after  man.  Fear  is 
paralyzing,  and  sensualism  is  disintegrating,  set- 
ting the  members  and  passions,  where  it  is  opera- 
tive, at  variance,  the  one  against  the  other.  This 
is  destructive  and  deadening,  for  a  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand.  Love,  the  only  uni- 
versal, coordinating  principle,  indispensable  to 
permanent  unity  and  strength,  must  win,  and 
Jesus  Christ,  who  is  Love  incarnated,  must  reign 
till  he  has  put  all  things  under  his  feet. 

This  is  not  an  arbitrary  enactment  of  Almighty 
power,  but  is  written  in  the  fundamental  constitu- 
tion of  the  universe.  It  interprets  moral  order; 
anything  else  is  anarchy.  It  interprets  human 
need;  anything  else  is  a  mockery  and  repellent. 
It  interprets  the  purpose  of  God;  anything  else  is 
unthinkable.  Because  Jesus  Christ  expresses  the 
supreme  manifestation  of  love  beyond  which  God 
Almighty  can  make  no  interpretation  to  the  human 
understanding,  because  there  is  no  persuasion  in 
the  passion  of  God,  no  resource  in  the  wealth  of 
God,  no  revelation  possible  for  God,  beyond  the 
death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  for  our 
sins.  Every  one  who  is  not  persuaded  by,  or  who 
refuses  to  accept  him,  is  lost,  for  '^he  that  be- 
lieveth  not  hath  been  judged  already,  because  he 
hath  not  believed  on  the  name  of  the  only  begotten 
Son  of  God." 


THE  INDISPENSABLE  161 

Chunder  Sen,  though  not  a  Christian,  ex- 
claimed a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  '^Xone  but 
Jesus,  none  but  Jesus,  none  but  Jesus  is  worthy 
to  wear  India  as  his  diadem,  and  he  shall  have  it.'^ 
One  infinitel}^  greater  than  Chunder  Sen,  greater 
than  any  mortal,  Almighty  God,  the  everlasting 
Father,  hath  ordained  that  whosoever  cometh  to 
Jesus  the  Christ  he  will  in  no  wise  cast  out,  and 
every  knee  must  bow  and  every  tongue  confess  him 
Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  Christ  Jesus 
is  the  Indispensable.  For  "neither  is  there  any 
other  name  under  heaven,  that  is  given  among 
men,  wherein  we  must  be  saved." 


V 

THE  INEVITABLE 


163 


To  this  end  Christ  died  and  lived  again,  that  he  might 
be  Lord  of  both  the  dead  and  the  living. — Romans. 

For  he  must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  his  enemies 
under  his  feet. — 1  GorintMans. 


164 


THE  INEVITABLE 

^The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness 
thereof;  the  world,  and  thej  that  dwell  therein." 
He  made  it  "by  the  word  of  his  power,"  and  he 
redeemed  it  "according  to  the  eternal  purpose 
which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 
Everything  which  pertains  to  the  world  has  its 
reason  for  being,  in  the  furtherance  of  this  pur- 
pose. Failing  to  serve,  it  ceases  to  exist,  for  serv- 
ing is  the  law  of  being. 

A  self-directing  will  and  an  imperial  conscience 
were  intrusted  to  man  as  part  of  his  original  en- 
dowment. Moral  perception,  self-direction,  and 
personal  responsibility  are  as  inseparable  from 
him  as  personality.  Therefore  man  is  invited  to 
become  a  laborer  together  with  Christ  in  the  out- 
working of  his  divine  purpose,  that  he  may  be  a 
joint  heir  with  him  in  the  glory  of  the  outcome. 
Everything  else  pertaining  to  this  world,  animate 
and  inanimate,  is  under  the  divine  compulsion, 
and  can  no  more  cease  to  serve  the  divine  purpose 
than  it  can  cease  to  be  without  the  divine  permis- 
sion, l^ot  a  sparrow  f  alleth  to  the  ground  without 
the  Father. 

165 


166    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

God's  ultimate  purpose  in  this  world,  the  one  to 
which  he  has  pledged  himself,  the  one  which  he 
pursues  without  cessation,  and  to  which  he  subor- 
dinates everything  else,  is  the  establishment  of 
his  kingdom  of  grace  over  willing  hearts.  He  is 
seeking  to  secure  the  loving  loyalty  of  every  man 
based  upon  personal  faith  in  himself.  His  pre- 
liminary purpose  is  to  make  his  love  so  manifest 
that  all  men,  everywhere,  shall  acknowledge  his 
goodness  and  will  to  have  him  rule  over  them.  As 
a  means  to  this,  God  has  ordained  that  man  shall 
be  the  objective  and  beneficiary  of  everything  per- 
taining to  this  world.  ^'All  are  yours,  and  ye  are 
Christ's,  and  Christ's  is  God's."  ''All  things  work 
together  for  good  to  them  that  .  .  .  are  the  called 
according  to  his  purpose." 

When  studied  in  the  light  of  their  trend  and 
permanent  results,  all  history,  physical,  intellec- 
tual, and  spiritual,  and  all  progress,  economic, 
social,  and  ecclesiastic,  demonstrate  his  love.  'No 
social  or  economic  condition  is  permanently  ad- 
justed until  it  makes  for  the  enlargement  of  hu- 
man opportunity.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
motive,  the  policy,  or  the  steps  by  which  it  has 
been  advanced,  civilization  is  established  upon 
order,  ministry,  solidarity.  All  real  progress  is 
in  alignment  with,  or  is  working  without  cessation 
toward,  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
This  is  the  primary  purpose  of  God  in  this  world. 


THE  INEVITABLE  167 

To  this  the  stability  of  his  throne  is  pledged.  He 
sees  to  it  that  the  outcome  of  every  conflict,  the 
steady  pull  of  every  force,  the  ultimate  direction  of 
every  movement  is  on  the  side  of  his  throne. 
Everything  v^hich  is  permitted  to  be,  is  under  com- 
pulsion to  serve  this  purpose,  and  of  necessity 
works  for  the  enlargement  of  man's  opportunity 
and  the  enrichment  of  humanity  as  citizens  of  his 
kingdom. 

Every  material  thing — chemical,  physical,  or 
what-not — exists  in  harmony  with  the  laws  of  its 
being,  and  is  defined  by  its  limitations.  Only  in 
obedience  to  these  laws  can  they  be  combined  or 
manipulated.  Within  these  established  conditions 
they  may  not  refuse  to  serve.  That  which  is  in- 
herently true  of  the  unit  is  necessarily  true  of  the 
aggregate,  organized  or  otherwise.  'No  matter 
what  may  be  the  object  for  which  the  units  are 
brought  together,  or  the  thoroughness  with  which 
they  are  organized,  they  must  pay  tribute  to  God 
by  contributing  to  the  betterment  of  man  and 
furthering  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Failing  in 
such  service,  they  are  adjudged  injurious  and  must 
give  way  to  that  which  is  helpful.  There  is  no 
exception.  ^Nothing  may  escape.  Temporarily, 
organizations  and  movements  may  render  unto 
Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's,  but  ulti- 
mately they  must  render  unto  God  the  things 
which  are  God's,  for  whatever  of  their  influence 


168    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

abides  makes  for  righteousness.  Their  inception 
maj  have  been  unutterably  iniquitous,  but  God 
maketh  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and  the 
outcome  is  the  furtherance  of  his  kingdom. 

The  introduction  of  opium  into  China  by  the 
British  government  seems  to  have  been  an  act  of 
unmitigated  selfishness,  as  reprehensible  an  exer* 
cise  of  power  by  a  great  nation  as  history  records. 
Its  immediate  effect  was  dissipating,  enslaving,  a 
deadly  curse,  but  it  furnished  the  occasion  for  forc- 
ing China  to  open  five  of  her  ports  to  commerce, 
and  to-day,  in  the  providence  of  God,  every  port 
and  all  of  China  is  open  to  Christianity ;  and  this 
oldest,  largest,  and  most  stolid  dynasty  on  earth  is 
in  a  ferment  with  the  leaven  of  the  new  life,  and 
the  Chinese,  including  one  fourth  of  the  world's 
population,  are  eager  to  accept  Christian  teaching 
and  the  transforming  power  of  Christ's  love. 

Australia  was  set  apart  as  a  penal  colony,  and 
for  years  Great  Britain  deported  her  criminals 
to  that  island  continent;  but  to-day  Australia  is 
guided  by  Christian  statesmanship,  is  keeping 
step  with  the  march  of  Christian  progress,  and  is 
reaching  out  with  Christian  sympathy  and  sacri- 
fice for  the  uplift  of  those  about  her. 

The  mercenary,  dividend-seeking  East  India 
Company  laid  the  sordid  hand  of  its  cupidity 
upon  India.  One  of  its  representatives  said  in 
Parliament,  ^^I  would  rather  send  a  shipload  of 


THE  INEVITABLE  169 

devils  to  India  than  a  shipload  of  missionaries/' 
showing  the  spirit  of  the  organization.  A  century 
and  a  half  later  this  disregard  for  human  rights 
fruited  in  the  Sepoy  mutiny,  and  the  British  gov- 
ernment put  the  East  India  Company  out  of  com- 
mission, and  assumed  government  direction,  and 
during  the  last  decade  there  has  been  no  greater 
manifestation  of  Christian  achievement  on  the 
globe  than  that  which  is  registering  itself  by  trans- 
forming human  lives  in  pagan  and  Mohammedan 
India. 

Everything  has  its  human  side  and  its  divine 
side,  its  John-the-Baptist  cry,  ^'Prepare  ye  the  way 
of  the  Lord,"  and  its  Christly  spirit,  "I  delight  to 
do  thy  will,  O  my  God."  God  has  not  abdicated 
his  throne.  As  long  as  the  whole  is  greater  than 
any  of  its  parts  he  cannot.  So  history  records  no 
organization  and  no  movement  which  does  not 
make  more  or  less  directly  for  righteousness. 

May  we  illustrate  this  by  taking  an  extreme 
case,  following  its  workings  somewhat  in  detail, 
and  noting  in  a  number  of  particulars  the  regis- 
tration of  its  influence  ?  That  the  witness  may  be 
free  from  any  prejudice  in  favor  of  the  proposition 
we  seek  to  prove,  let  us  call  the  most  extreme  case 
we  can  find,  one  whose  motive  for  being  and  spirit 
of  procedure  are  most  foreign  to  righteousness. 

It  is  an  aphorism  that  ^^Corporations  have  no 
souls"  ;  it  is  also  an  aphorism  of  general  acceptance 


170    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

that  ^^Commerce  is  organized  selfishness."  Let  us 
choose  a  commercial  corporation,  therefore,  which, 
if  these  proverbs  are  correct,  would  be  a  soulless 
organization  maintained  to  prosecute  its  selfish 
greed.  If  we  can  find  such  a  one,  which  has  had 
opportunity  to  register  its  influence  within  a  va- 
riety of  conditions,  it  should  illustrate  our  proposi- 
tion pro  or  con.  ]^or  do  we  have  to  look  far  for 
our  witness.  It  is  conceded  by  many,  and  possibly 
by  most,  disinterested  persons  that  among  the 
varied  commercial  corporations  of  civilization  none 
is  more  characterized  as  soulless  and  selfish,  im- 
perious and  mercenary,  than  the  railroads.  It  is 
frequently  asserted  and  largely  believed  that  their 
methods  disregard  the  rights  of  individuals,  com- 
munities, and  municipalities ;  that  they  reach  out 
like  a  monster  octopus,  gathering  everything  that 
is  worth  absorbing;  that  they  prosecute  their  ob- 
ject by  any  means  which  will  further  their  ends, 
and  all  to  serve  themselves. 

ISTot  stopping  to  argue  whether  these  statements 
are  true  or  otherwise,  but  because  they  are  so 
widely  accepted,  let  us  consider  some  of  the  regis- 
tered influences  of  the  railroads.  If,  notwithstand- 
ing the  objects  of  their  organization  and  the 
methods  of  their  management  are,  primarily  if  not 
solely,  for  the  sake  of  material  gain  in  the  shape 
of  dividends  for  their  stockholders,  it  should  ap- 
pear that  these  mercenary,  commercial  corpora- 


THE  INEVITABLE  171 

tions  are  unintentional  but  veritable  missionaries 
of  Christianity,  and  pay  tribute  to  the  kingdom  of 
God  by  preparing  the  way  for  it,  we  may  say  that 
it  must  be  true  also  of  any  and  everything  else. 
Let  us  examine  some  of  their  results  in  the  two 
extremes  of  society,  in  a  Christian  and  in  a  pagan 
civilization,  and  see  what  have  been  some  of  the 
recorded  tendencies  of  the  railroad's  influence,  as 
related  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  within  these  diverse 
conditions. 

1.  We  need  not  go  far  afield  to  find  a  Christian 
community;  none  will  be  more  serviceable  than 
the  one  with  which  we  are  most  familiar.  The 
United  States  is  the  most  closely  identified  with 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  of  any  nation 
among  men.  This  may  be  conceded  because  of 
our  position  in  the  highway  between  the  Pacific 
and  Atlantic;  because  of  our  relations  to  Asia 
and  Europe ;  because  of  our  marvelous  history,  in 
which  the  hand  of  God  can  be  seen  at  every  stage ; 
because  of  the  character  of  our  stanch  Anglo-Saxon 
people,  with  their  genius  for  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity; because  of  our  vital,  constructive  Chris- 
tian institutions ;  and  because  of  the  evangelistic 
spirit  of  our  churches,  which  are  reaching  out  and 
laying  hold  of  the  strategic  points  of  the  world, 
sending  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  converted.  Spirit- 
filled,  energetic,  tactful,  persistent,  cultured,  and 
efiicient    missionaries,    who    delight    in    sacrifice, 


172    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

know  naught  of  hardship  or  discouragement,  in- 
form every  soul  they  can  reach  with  the  Word  of 
God,  and  transform  every  land  they  touch. 

What  is  the  tendency  of  the  railroads  in  this 
country  as  related  to  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  If  the 
United  States  is  to  fulfill  its  large  mission  in  fur- 
thering the  world's  evangelization,  there  are, 
among  the  many  essential  things  to  be  developed, 
^Ye  which  may  be  named  as  of  prime  importance : 
(1)  wealth,  (2)  solidarity,  (3)  temperance,  (4) 
Sabbath  observance,  and  (5)  Christianity,  includ- 
ing Bible  knowledge  and  experience.  Do  the  rail- 
roads further  any  of  these  ? 

1.  I  have  placed  wealth  first  because  the  ex- 
tension of  the  kingdom  of  God  is  retarded  by  the 
lack  of  money  to  meet  the  necessary  expenses.  In 
fact,  it  may  be  said  that  the  world's  salvation  has 
come  to  be  a  question  of  money.  This  is  the  one 
element  lacking.  On  the  divine  side  all  things  are 
ready.  Jesus  Christ  has  accomplished  the  atone- 
ment. That  is  finished.  We  are  living  in  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Spirit,  the  manifestation  of 
which  is  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal; 
and  full  salvation  is  provided  for  every  man,  so 
that  whosoever  will  may  take  of  the  water  of  life 
freely. 

The  three  things  essential  on  the  human  side  of 
the  problem  are  accessibility,  efficient  agents  who 
know  him  and  will  show  him,  and  the  command 


THE  INEVITABLE  173 

of  sufficient  money  to  bring  the  agents  into  per- 
sonal relationship  with  those  who  are  accessible. 
I  need  not  speak  of  the  accessibility.  God  has 
heard  the  prayers  of  his  church  that  he  would  open 
wide  the  doors  of  opportunity  that  the  gospel 
might  have  free  access  to  the  multitudes  in  dark- 
ness. He  has  answered  these  prayers  by  removing 
the  doors  from  their  hinges,  so  that  to-day  there 
are  no  excluded  places,  there  are  no  peoples  from 
whom  the  missionary  is  barred,  there  are  no  re- 
mote lands ;  but  there  is  a  multiplied  Macedonian 
cry  coming  up  from  the  weary  hearts  of  sin,  from 
the  dark  habitations  of  cruelty,  from  the  uttermost 
ends  of  the  earth,  ^'Come  over  and  help  us  with 
the  gospel  of  love  and  the  ministry  of  Christ.'' 
The  prayer  which  our  Lord  gave  his  disciples, 
"Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  send 
forth  laborers,"  has  been  so  far  fulfilled  that  there 
are  literally  thousands  of  young  men  and  maidens, 
cultured  and  consecrated,  richly  endowed  of  God, 
with  discipline  and  vision,  who  courageously  covet 
the  opportunity  and  are  eagerly  pleading,  "Here 
am  I ;  send  me." 

The  accessibility  being  complete,  and  the  agents 
eager  to  go  and  ready  to  multiply  more  and  more 
if  opportunity  is  assured,  the  church  is  confronted 
with  the  fact  that  the  only  essential  element  lack- 
ing for  this  world's  salvation  is  command  of  mone}' 
sufficient  to  meet  the  necessary  expense  of  placing 


174    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

these  called  and  consecrated  agents  in  the  focal 
points  of  need,  where  by  their  Christly  living  they 
may  nourish  into  life  those  who  are  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  in  sin.  Therefore  I  speak  of  money  as 
the  urgent,  essential,  human  condition.  Have  the 
railroads  done  aught  toward  developing  and  dis- 
tributing wealth  ? 

On  the  last  day  of  June,  1909,  there  were 
333,776  miles  of  single  track  railroads  in  this 
country,  representing  an  investment  of  about 
$19,000,000,000,  with  gross  annual  earnings  of 
$2,407,000,000,  of  which  $1,689,000,000  was  dis- 
tributed as  operating  expenses.  This  is  only  a 
suggestion  of  their  wealth-producing  and  diffusing 
power.  They  distribute  annually  as  wages  $775,- 
321,000.  During  the  past  fifty  years  they  have 
expended  every  day  on  an  average  $400,000  for 
construction,  and  much  of  this  was  in  the  slightly 
populated  sections.  They  have  made  vast  agricul- 
tural and  mineral  resources  available,  and  de- 
veloped gi'eat  centers  of  population  for  handling 
and  distributing  the  expanding  passenger  and 
freight  traffic.  They  have  transformed  the  fron- 
tiers and  practically  removed  them,  for  they  have 
made  remote  places  as  central  and  convenient  for 
purposes  of  commerce  and  travel  as  those  near  at 
hand  were  a  decade  ago.  They  save  labor,  health, 
and  expense,  and  multiply  time,  power,  and  re- 
sources.   Being  organized  and  maintained  to  make 


THE  INEVITABLE  .175 

money,  that  they  are  being  extended  is  practical 
evidence  of  their  success. 

God's  providence  has  anticipated  necessity  by 
preparing  humanity  to  meet  each  condition  funda- 
mental to  the  establishment  of  his  kingdom  as  it 
has  arisen.  'Now  when  the  kingdom  tarries  for 
lack  of  available  money  to  meet  its  necessary  ex- 
penses, it  is  more  than  a  coincidence,  it  is  a  star- 
tling and  suggestive  fact,  that  available  wealth  is 
accumulating  in  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  direct 
proportion  to  their  loyalty  to  Christianity.  He 
giveth  the  power  to  get  wealth.  America,  the  land 
most  vitally  related  to  the  kingdom,  has  about  one 
half  of  the  railroad  mileage  in  the  world,  and  is 
developing  wealth  far  more  rapidly  than  any  other 
nation  among  men. 

2.  If  we  as  a  people  are  to  have  the  initiative 
and  constructive  force  essential  to  success  in  our 
high  commission,  we  must  have  great  solidarity, 
welding  and  moving  us  in  close  unity.  We  are 
confronted  with  a  most  serious  danger — many  of 
them — ^but  one  among  these  to  be  especially  reck- 
oned with  is  an  intense,  abnormally  developed,  dis- 
integrating individualism.  It  is  easy  to  account 
for  this  tendency  among  us.  The  opportunities  on 
every  hand  for  an  aggressive  life;  the  large  re- 
turns for  persistent,  purposeful  activity ;  the  prev- 
alence of  sharp,  strenuous  competition;  the  fun- 
damental doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  which 


176     GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

individualizes  every  soul;  and  the  instruction  of 
our  schools,  looking  to  the  production  of  person- 
ality, all  contribute  to  the  development  of  indi- 
vidualism in  personal  character,  in  commercial 
relations,  in  institutional  life,  in  manufacturing 
enterprise,  in  municipal  government,  and  in  State- 
hood. This  threatens  our  destruction  because  of 
its  tendency  to  develop  such  sharp  and  intense 
competition  as  may  front  each  one  against  all  and 
all  against  each.  If  these  tendencies  to  dissipating 
individualism  v^ere  not  corrected,  and  individuals 
so  coordinated  as  to  secure  unity  of  motive  and 
activity  with  their  development  of  personality,  the 
end  would  be  weakness  and  the  nation  be  de- 
stroyed. Solidarity  is  the  spirit  of  democracy,  the 
life  of  a  republic. 

The  railroads  are  a  mighty  force  in  conserving 
solidarity.  The  Centennial  observance  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1876  marked  the  beginning  of  a  new 
epoch  in  the  history  of  this  nation.  It  inaugurated 
the  era  of  travel.  The  railroads  sent  out  a  propa- 
ganda to  induce  the  people  to  visit  the  great  Cen- 
tennial exhibit.  They  organized  community  ex- 
cursions, city  excursions,  State  excursions,  craft 
excursions,  educational  excursions — all  kinds  of 
excursions — taking  specially  organized  and  con- 
ducted companies  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to 
Philadelphia  and  returning  them  at  small  cost  and 
little  personal  effort  or  inconvenience.     The  ease 


THE  INEVITABLE  177 

of  travel,  its  pleasures  and  profit,  became  a  new 
consciousness  to  hundreds  of  thousands.  The 
broadening  of  vision,  the  increase  of  knowledge 
and  appreciation  of  the  resources  of  different  parts 
of  the  country  became  the  personal  experience  of 
multitudes.  From  being  provincials  we  as  a  peo- 
ple commenced  to  broaden  our  horizons  and  be- 
came a  nation  of  travelers.  But  travel  extends 
acquaintance,  acquaintance  begets  appreciation, 
appreciation  secures  intercourse  and  commerce ; 
these  develop  respect  and  sympathy,  and  ripen  into 
interdependence  and  unity.  So  the  railroads  are 
an  unconscious  but  potent  factor  in  counteracting 
sectionalism,  destroying  exclusiveness,  mitigating 
prejudice,  and  promoting  homogeneity.  They 
broaden,  liberalize,  and  assimilate  a  people,  and 
the  new  grading  is  constantly  upward. 

The  extension  of  railroad  construction ;  the  ex- 
actness of  schedules ;  the  absolute  conformity  to 
orders,  signals,  and  limitations ;  the  differentiation 
of  work  with  such  sharp  distinctions;  the  adjust- 
ment of  regulations  with  such  mathematical  ac- 
curacy; the  development  of  specialists  whose  effi- 
ciency is  dependent  upon  their  coordination  with 
others — the  excellence  of  all  being  essential  to  the 
success  of  any — and  the  growing  sense  of  inter- 
dependence are  subtle  forces  which  make  for 
solidarity. 

The  innumerable  trains,  passenger  and  freight, 


178     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

flying  back  and  forth  in  every  direction  like  great 
shuttles,  are  weaving  into  the  warp  of  this  country 
a  pattern,  clumsy  and  material  though  it  be,  yet 
a  pattern  which  suggests  the  high-priestly  prayer 
of  our  Lord  for  his  followers  that  they  all  may  be 
one.  It  is  an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  an  in- 
ward and  spiritual  grace,  for,  grasping,  assertive, 
selfish  as  are  the  railroads  in  the  opinion  of  the 
most  ultra — be  that  conception  false  or  true — the 
steady  pull  of  their  influence  is  for  organization, 
coordination,  uniflcation,  solidarity. 

3.  Another  great  temptation  and  danger  con- 
fronting the  American  people  is  intemperance. 
The  intense  life  of  the  typical  American  is  ex- 
haustive of  nervous  energy.  The  sharp  competi- 
tion, the  highly  oxygenized  air,  the  hypernervous 
social  conditions  all  tempt  the  individual  to  supple- 
ment his  overstrained  nerve  resources  and  to  re- 
lieve the  inopportune  weariness  of  his  enervated 
nature  by  the  use  of  stimulants,  instead  of  seeking 
recuperation  through  rest.  Rest  is  prosaic.  Rest 
consumes  so  much  time.  The  spur  and  the  lash 
seem  to  suit  the  nervous  tension  of  our  age.  The 
strenuous  life  makes  its  subtle  appeal  to  appetite 
with  disastrous  results.  Mark  you,  the  appeal  is 
not  most  forceful  to  the  dullards  and  the  indiffer- 
ent, but  to  the  overwrought,  to  those  of  highly 
organized  nervous  temperament,  who  have  been 
born  to  leadership,  who  face  large  opportunity,  and 


THE  INEVITABLE  179 

whose  normal  position  is  in  the  forefront  of  the 
conflict.  How  shall  it  be  corrected  ?  What  forces 
can  grapple  with  and  destroy  the  deadly  influence 
of  intemperance  ?  Have  you  ever  thought  of  the 
railroads  as  a  great  temperance  force? 

The  management  of  capital,  seeking  dividends 
through  agencies  so  varied  and  delicately  adjusted, 
knows  that  a  clear  brain,  steady  nerves,  and  un- 
clouded judgment  are  essential  to  safety  and  effi- 
ciency. As  their  money  is  involved,  they  will  take 
no  risks.  'No  man  who  is  known  to  be  intemper- 
ate can  be  employed.  A  president  of  the  Associa- 
tion of  Railway  Superintendents  of  Bridges  and 
Buildings  said:  ^'Practically  all  of  our  members 
are  opposed  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  We 
realize  that  men  who  use  no  intoxicants  make 
better,  steadier  workmen  than  those  who  drink  in- 
toxicants, even  occasionally." 

In  1899  the  American  Railway  Association 
adopted  a  rule  prohibiting  the  use  of  intoxicants 
by  employees  while  on  duty,  and  declared,  ^'The 
habitual  use  of  intoxicants  or  the  frequenting  of 
places  where  they  are  sold  is  sufficient  cause  for 
dismissal."  Over  1,300,000  of  the  employees  ot 
the  railroads  in  this  country  are  under  the  obliga- 
tion of  this  rule.  Some  companies  have  the  rule : 
"The  use  of  intoxicants,  visiting  saloons,  whether 
ofP  or  on  duty,  gambling  or  playing  cards  in  or 
around  stations  or  upon  trains  or  cars,  of  in  or 


180    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

upon  the  property  of  this  company,  by  employees  is 
strictly  prohibited.  The  violation  of  this  rule  will 
be  sufficient  cause  for  discipline  or  discharge  from 
the  service."  Some  of  the  railroads  declare  for 
absolute  prohibition. 

As  the  number  of  railroad  employees  is  increas- 
ing over  seventy-five  thousand  per  year,  the  num- 
ber of  men  required  to  abstain  from  intoxicants  is 
a  great  and  growing  host.  The  Wine  and  Spirit 
Journal  some  time  since  contained  a  wail  of  de- 
spair because  it  said  ninety  per  cent  of  the  rail- 
road employees  were  prohibited  from  using  their 
wares,  and  eighty  per  cent  of  the  manufacturers 
and  seventy  per  cent  of  the  agriculturists  were 
against  it. 

Anything  that  is  born  of  or  is  essential  to  a 
Christian  civilization  must  work  for  the  kingdom 
of  God  by  the  compulsion  of  its  birth  and  the  law 
of  its  continuance. 

4.  It  is  a  matter  of  grave  concern  that  in  Amer- 
ica the  Christian  Sabbath  is  not  more  faithfully 
observed.  There  is  great  cause  for  serious  inquiry 
and  prayerful  consideration,  for  courageous  and 
organized  effort,  to  correct  the  tendencies  to  irrev- 
erence and  Sabbath  desecration.  The  Sabbath  is 
no  medieval  device  nor  Jewish  invention:  its  ob- 
servance as  a  day  of  physical  rest  and  spiritual 
refreshment  was  no  afterthought  of  God.  The 
Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  its  observance  is 


THE  INEVITABLE  181 

required  by  the  essential  and  fundamental  con- 
ditions of  his  nature. 

I  would  not  have  you  think  that  the  millennium 
has  come,  nor  would  I  intimate  that  the  railroads 
are  standing  for  a  puritanic  or  for  an  ancient 
Hebraic  Sabbath;  but  as  these  skilled  investors 
concentrate  their  thoughts  upon  the  problem  of  the 
dependence  of  dividends  upon  the  greatest  effi- 
ciency of  their  agents,  they  are  commencing  to 
recognize  that  as  steel  has  a  fixed  limitation  to  its 
texile  strength,  so  in  a  given  number  of  weeks 
a  man  will  accomplish  more  and  better  work  by 
resting  one  day  in  seven  than  he  can  by  working 
continuously.  We  must  study  great  forces  and 
movements  in  the  light  of  their  tendencies,  and 
the  trend  of  the  railroads  is  against  Sabbath  labor. 
Many  of  the  great  railroads  are  practically  ad- 
justing their  administration  to  this  principle. 
N^ote  the  schedule  of  any  important  railroad,  and 
you  will  find  fewer  trains  start  on  the  Sabbath 
than  on  other  days  of  the  week.  This  is  not  only 
because  the  travel  in  the  most  Christian  communi- 
ties is  greatly  reduced,  but  also  to  further  increase 
the  efficiency  of  its  agents.  Were  it  not  that  Chris- 
tian people  are  thoughtless  of  their  fellows,  and 
disobey  the  divine  command,  ^^Remember  the  sab- 
bath day,  to  keep  it  holy,"  the  railroads  would 
have  a  strengthening  of  their  spinal  column, 
and   further   enforce   ethical   regulations.      They 


182     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

are  weak  brethren,  controlled  by  financial  expe- 
diency and  not  by  moral  convictions,  and  it  is  too 
great  a  temptation  for  them  to  fully  resist  when 
Christian  people  ask  them,  by  proffered  use,  to 
desecrate  the  day  which  it  is  commanded  shall  be 
kept  holy  to  the  Lord. 

God  created  humanity  to  be  blessed.  His  law 
reveals  man's  need.  The  divine  adminstration 
guarantees  man's  opportunity.  Man  cannot  find 
his  largest  opportunity  nor  greatest  blessedness 
outside  of  the  divine  provision.  If  you  desire  to 
melt  iron,  you  add  heat  to  a  given  temperature ; 
if  you  wish  to  solidify  water,  you  withdraw  heat ; 
that  is,  in  every  case,  you  work  in  harmony  with 
the  laws  of  its  nature.  So,  also,  if  it  is  the  purpose 
to  use  man  to  the  best  advantage,  and  get  from  him 
the  largest  number  of  power  units,  it  can  be  done 
only  by  working  in  harmony  with  the  laws  which 
make  for  the  enlargement  and  blessedness  of  hu- 
manity; but  these  interpret  and  honor  God. 
Therefore,  man's  best  and  God's  glory  are  in  per- 
fect alignment.  While  the  railroads  are  a  long 
call  from  the  ideal,  their  economic  discussions  and 
administrative  practice  indicate  a  trend  toward 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

5.  There  may  be  wealth,  there  may  be  solidarity, 
there  may  be  temperance,  and,  possibly,  Sabbath 
observance;  but,  important  as  all  these  are  as  ac- 
cessories, they  do  not  constitute  salvation.     Like 


THE  INEVITABLE  1S3 

removing  the  stumps  of  a  past  civilization  with 
their  deep-rooted  prejudices  and  passions,  or  like 
breaking  up  the  ground  and  preparing  it  for  the 
seeding  of  truth,  if  the  work  should  stop  with  that, 
it  would  not  realize  success.  The  need  of  the 
world  is  that  it  shall  know  God,  and  Jesus  Christ 
whom  he  hath  sent. 

Are  the  railroads  standing  for  anything  which 
is  positively  aggressive  for  Christianity?  As  all 
forces  and  all  movements  which  are  permitted  to 
exist  in  God's  world  make  for  God's  kingdom,  the 
logical  duty  of  the  railroads  is  to  provide  Chris- 
tian influences  and  instruction  for  their  employees. 
If  they  will  not  permit  overstrained  nerves  to  use 
intoxicants,  they  must  make  provision  for  rest, 
the  divine  panacea  for  weariness  and  recuperation. 
If  they  will  not  permit  their  employees  to  gamble 
or  frequent  saloons,  what  alternative  is  there  but 
to  provide  for  them  rest  rooms,  reading  rooms, 
lectures,  and  profitable  study  classes? 

Christian  culture  is  consequential  to  a  com- 
mercial corporation  seeking  to  increase  the  effi- 
ciency or  dividend-earning  power  of  its  employees. 
Recognizing  that  life's  necessities  are  not  fully 
met  by  prohibition,  but  that  they  require  direction 
and  provision,  the  great  railroads,  with  the  pur- 
pose to  increase  the  efficiency  of  their  employees 
and  so  enlarge  their  dividends,  are  erecting  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  buildings  at  their  ter- 


184     GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

miiials  and  junctions.  Already  nearly  $4,000,000 
has  been  sjyent  in  railroad  Christian  Association 
buildings.  Of  course  some  of  this  was  given  out 
of  Christian  sympathy,  but  it  was  largely  provided 
from  the  earnings  of  the  railroads.  There  is  ex- 
pended annually  for  this  Railway  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  work  more  than  $1,000,000, 
largely  taken  out  of  the  gross  profits  and  charged 
to  the  regular  expense  account,  to  provide  skilled, 
consecrated,  and  godly  men  to  teach  Christianity 
and  develop  among  their  operatives  Christian  char- 
acter. They  already  register  over  76,000  mem- 
bers. Several  thousands  are  enrolled  in  their 
educational  classes,  over  135,000  are  studying  in 
their  Bible  classes,  and  about  1,400  are  reported 
as  having  joined  the  church  last  year  as  a  direct 
result  of  this  work.  Steam  works  in  harmony 
with  the  laws  established  by  the  Creator.  Coal 
and  combustion,  metal  and  wood,  levers  and 
wheels — all  forces  and  all  materials  are  loyal  to 
the  will  of  Him  who  appointed  their  limitations. 
They  cannot  be  organized  so  as  to  ignore  or  destroy 
their  obligation  to  his  service.  So  all  things  nat- 
ural to  a  Christian  civilization  work  together  to 
further  Christianity. 

There  are  forces  other  than  the  railroads,  many 
more  constructive,  more  potent,  more  direct,  work- 
ing for  the  development  of  Christian  America  as  a 
chosen  servant  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of  the 


THE  INEVITABLE  185 

kingdom  throughout  the  earth.  But  surely  this 
Saul,  who  has  grown  to  such  heroic  stature,  like 
the  son  of  Kish  in  the  early  time,  has  had  a  vision 
and  received  a  commission.  He  went  forth  to  seek 
for  beasts  of  burden  and  direct  them  to  the  family 
service;  but,  contrary  to  his  expectations,  and  to 
the  amazement  of  his  contemporaries,  he  is  min- 
istering among  the  prophets.  He  sought  to  hide 
himself  among  the  baggage,  but  a  providence  he 
could  not  resist  called  him  to  a  regal  opportunity. 
Service  is  the  fundamental  condition  of  his  influ- 
ence, for  ^'the  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness 
thereof." 

It  may  be  suggested  that  the  conditions  which 
we  have  been  considering  are  only  a  reflection  of 
the  Christian  civilization  of  America.  If  this 
were  granted,  it  would  not  materially  change  the 
force  of  the  argument.  The  railroads  have  been 
and  are  under  compulsion  to  further  the  purpose 
of  Christianity,  whether  it  is  done  by  leading  or 
following.  While  they  may  bear  the  imprint  of 
Csesar,  by  the  compulsion  of  an  irrevocable  law, 
they  must  render  unto  God  the  things  which  are 
God's. 

II.  Let  us  look  at  the  influence  of  railroads  at 
the  other  extreme  of  society,  namely,  in  a  pagan 
and  Mohammedan  country,  and  see  whether  they 
are  working  there  also  as  an  evangelizing  agency 
and  making  for  the  kingdom  of  God.     Turn,  if 


186     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

you  will,  to  Southern  Asia,  where  the  problem 
seemed  so  immense  and  hopeless  because  there 
were  depths  below  depths  which  had  never  been 
sounded,  and  the  compactness  of  organization  in 
the  interests  of  evil  seemed  irresistible.  If  I  were 
to  indicate,  say  five  of  the  most  thoroughly  estab- 
lished and  apparently  immovable  barriers  to  the 
spread  of  the  gospel  in  the  pagan  and  Moham- 
medan areas  of  Southern  Asia,  I  should  name 
(1)  the  confidence  which  the  people  have  in  the 
superiority  of  their  gods;  (2)  the  subtle,  ubiqui- 
tous, and  hitherto  impregnable  ramifications  of 
the  caste  system;  (3)  the  isolation  and  suspicion 
which  keep  the  masses  terrorized  and  impover- 
ished through  the  recurrence  of  famine  and  dis- 
ease; (4)  their  credulity  and  superstition,  which 
are  fostered  by  regularly  organized  propaganda, 
pilgrimages,  and  ceremonies;  (5)  their  indiffer- 
ence to  time  values  and  limitations,  and  their  con- 
sequent disregard  for  engagements,  which  under- 
mine all  moral  distinctions. 

1.  The  first  condition  I  have  mentioned  is  the 
confidence  of  the  people  in  the  superiority  of  their 
gods.  This  begets  loyalty,  through  fear  to  neg- 
lect their  service.  One  of  the  objects  most  sacred 
and  most  devoutly  worshiped  by  the  Hindus  is  the 
Ganges  Eiver.  It  is  so  sacred  that  it  is  called 
^'Mother  Gun-ga,"  because  it  is  supposed  to  flow 
to  heaven  through  Gung,  the  earth.    In  the  English 


THE  INEVITABLE  187 

courts  of  justice  the  oath  is  administered  to 
Brahmanical  believers  on  a  bottle  of  Ganges  water. 
The  reverence  of  the  Hindu  for  the  Ganges  is  not 
surprising  when  we  consider  the  power  and  benefi- 
cence combined  in  that  river. 

The  Gangetic  valley  is  one  of  the  richest  and 
largest  valleys  on  the  globe.  The  Ganges  rises  at 
two  points  in  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  1,800  feet 
and  1,300  feet  above  tide.  It  is  1,960  miles  long. 
For  1,200  miles,  from  Hurdwar  to  its  mouth,  it 
falls  only  1,000  feet.  It  is  frequently  three  miles 
wide,  and  500  miles  from  the  sea,  and  is  thirty  feet 
deep.  It  commences  to  rise  slowly  about  the  end 
of  April  or  early  in  May,  and  continues  until  the 
latter  part  of  July,  when  it  has  submerged  the  ad- 
jacent land,  sometimes  for  the  width  of  one  hun- 
dred miles,  and  is  thirty-two  feet  above  its  ordi- 
nary level.  About  the  middle  of  August  the  water 
commences  to  subside,  which  it  continues  to  do 
until  April.  It  is  computed  to  discharge  into  the 
sea  about  500,000  cubic  feet  of  water  per  second 
for  four  months,  and  about  100,000  cubic  feet  for 
the  other  eight  months,  and  discolors  the  ocean  for 
sixty  miles  from  its  mouth.  It  is  destructive  of 
everything  in  the  sweep  of  its  mighty  flood  cur- 
rent, but,  like  the  l^ile,  it  is  the  perennial  cause  of 
phenomenal  productiveness  wherever  the  gentler 
influences  of  its  overflowing  and  fertilizing  waters 
bring  irrigation.    For  centuries  it  has  been  feared 


188    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

and  worshiped  as  the  embodiment  of  power  and 
fertility. 

The  large  dividend-paying  possibilities  of  carry- 
ing freight  and  passengers  between  certain  points 
in  India  led  to  the  formation  of  a  company  to 
build  a  railroad  which,  if  constructed,  must  cross 
the  Ganges  at  Cawnpur.  The  survey  reported 
that  it  would  require  a  bridge  which,  with  its  ap- 
proaches, would  be  one  and  three  quarters  miles 
long,  with  twenty-seven  piers  in  the  current  of  the 
river.  These  piers  would  have  to  go  down  eighty 
feet  through  the  silt  in  the  bed  of  the  river  to  get 
a  solid  footing  on  the  rock,  be  twenty-four  feet  in 
diameter,  to  resist  the  thrust  of  the  accumulated 
waters  when  the  river  would  rise  in  her  might, 
and  stand  more  than  two  score  feet  above  the  or- 
dinary level  to  be  above  the  torrent's  breast  when 
in  flood.  All  this  was  figured  out  with  mathe- 
matical precision  in  the  quiet  of  the  study. 

The  piers  were  built  of  brick  to  the  water  line, 
and  capped  with  Agra  red  sandstone.  The  banks 
were  faced  with  stone  for  three  miles  up  and  down 
the  river,  to  prevent  its  cutting  around  and  de- 
stroying the  approaches.  Five  thousand  workmen, 
including  twenty  castes,  were  occupied  many 
months  in  completing  the  work.  These  wrought 
out  the  plans  under  the  guidance  of  Christian  en- 
gineers and  artisans,  who  had  come  from  Christian 
lands.    During  the  progress  of  the  work  the  priests 


THE  INEVITABLE  18d 

regularly  came  to  the  river  to  bathe  and  worship 
their  mighty  goddess.  They  looked  with  pity  upon 
the  pretentious  work  and  lavish  expenditure  in 
what  they  were  confident  would  prove  to  be  a  futile 
attempt  to  bind  her. 

Just  as  the  bridge  was  approaching  completion 
the  river  began  to  rise.  The  preceding  winter  the 
snows  in  the  great  watershed  among  the  Himalayas 
had  been  heavier  than  for  many  years  past.  The 
rains  were  somewhat  earlier,  and  in  their  down- 
pour more  copious  and  persistent  than  usual. 
"Mother  Gun-ga"  rose  majestically  and  came  rush- 
ing along  her  channel  with  a  great  crested  wave 
of  tawny  water  drawn  from  her  unmeasured  re- 
sources, as  though  impatient  to  sweep  away,  like 
a  wisp  of  straw,  the  foreigners'  impertinence, 
which  was  meant  to  bind  her  hitherto  undisputed 
power.  Day  after  day  her  volume  of  water  in- 
creased, rising  higher  and  higher  until  she  had 
submerged  the  records  made  for  many  years  past. 
The  river  dashed  its  swirling  torrent  impetuously 
against  the  piers ;  roaring  and  hissing,  it  climbed 
higher  and  higher,  eddying  about  them  with  mad- 
dening swish.  There  they  stood  provokingly  quiet, 
insultingly  firm,  holding  above  the  rush  of  the 
water  their  parallel  threads  of  steel. 

Confident  that  the  Ganges's  power  was  irresisti- 
ble, the  old  priests  were  expectant  and  the  people 
gleeful  as,  day  after  day,  they  came  to  worship, 


190    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

and  saw  her  rising  tide.  But  one  morning,  as  the 
j)riests  came  eagerly  to  the  water's  edge,  they  sud- 
denly turned  pale  as  death;  their  knees  smote 
together  as  though  they  had  been  struck  with 
palsy;  their  feet  seemed  anchored  to  the  spot  as 
though  turned  to  lead;  with  difficulty  they  drew 
their  breath ;  and  their  whole  attitude  was  that  of 
absolute  despair.  Why  this  awful  despondency? 
Because  they  saw  that  the  river  was  receding  and 
the  bridge  was  still  standing!  Why  this  horror 
as  of  death  ?  When  the  author  of  their  sacred 
books  had  been  asked,  ^'How  long  shall  the  Hindu 
religion  hold  its  power  among  men  V^  he  had  said, 
^'Until  Mother  Gun-ga  has  been  bound."  They 
had  seen  her  confined  within  a  narrow  channel, 
and  bound  with  rods  of  iron  by  men  who  came 
from  the  land  which  sent  the  Jesus  religion.  They 
had  watched  her,  in  what  they  believed  to  be  a  life 
or  death  struggle,  writhe  and  surge  and  swirl  in 
her  inability  to  break  the  bonds  of  her  appointed 
channel,  till,  defeated,  she  lay  limp  and  helpless, 
wasting  away  in  the  grip  of  her  superior. 

The  railroad,  in  building  its  bridge  for  merce- 
nary purposes,  had  unconsciously  destroyed  the 
confidence  of  the  Hindus  in  the  superiority  of 
their  great  goddess,  Gun-ga,  and  had  set  up  a 
witness  which  proclaims  and  perpetuates  the  record 
of  her  defeat.  Wherever  the  accessories  of  the 
Christian  civilization  have  gone  in  pagan  lands 


THE  INEVITABLE  191 

they  have  been  effective  iconoclasts.  I  doubt  not 
Jesus  noted  v^ith  satisfaction  when  it  was  recorded 
in  the  sacred  books  of  the  Hindus  that  the  binding 
of  the  Ganges  would  indicate  the  doom  of  that  false 
religion,  for  Christ  has  never  left  himself  without 
witnesses  in  any  age  or  in  any  land. 

2.  The  caste  system  is  the  most  subtle,  ubiqui- 
tous, and  irresistible  of  all  organized  conditions  in 
India.  In  fact,  it  is  the  most  thoroughly  organized 
form  of  selfishness  ever  devised  by  subtlety  and 
malevolence.  There  are  four  general  castes  and 
three  thousand  subdivisions  of  these,  with  distinc- 
tive names  and  regulations.  Even  the  pariahs  and 
outcasts  have  subcastes  among  themselves.  'No 
marriage,  personal  contact,  change  of  business,  or 
interchange  of  social  amenities  is  permitted  out- 
side the  caste  lines.  The  Hindus  claim  one's 
parental  inheritance  is  lost  by  his  failure  to  keep 
his  caste  regulations.  Violation  of  caste  require- 
ments excludes  him  from  performing  the  rites  for 
the  dead,  and  debars  his  ancestors  from  the  bliss 
of  heaven.  Caste  paralyzes  personality,  destroys 
individualism,  and  has  proved  to  be  a  most  serious 
barrier  to  conversion.  The  maintenance  of  caste 
is  practically  the  only  essential  requirement  of 
Hinduism.  So  long  as  a  person  obeys  his  caste 
requirements,  he  is  at  liberty  to  entertain  any 
opinion  or  engage  in  any  form  of  worship. 

When  the  railroad  trains  commenced  running  in 


192    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

India  they  offered  inexpensive,  rapid,  and  com- 
fortable transportation.  Low-caste  men  would  ride 
into  the  city,  transact  their  business,  and  return 
the  same  or  the  next  day.  Their  higher  caste 
neighbors  would  drive  along  the  hot  and  dusty 
roads  in  their  bilegarries  at  the  rate  of  four  miles 
an  hour,  as  their  ancestors  had  done  from  time 
immemorial.  The  lower  caste  man  would  look  out 
the  car  window  with  a  complacent  air,  as  he  was 
saving  time,  expense,  and  weariness,  and  the  higher 
caste  man  did  not  thoroughly  enjoy  his  economic 
and  personal  advantage,  as  from  his  springless 
vehicle  a  few  miles  further  along  the  dusty  road 
he  would  see  the  low-caste  man  returning.  Finally 
the  exigencies  of  business  compelled  the  high-caste 
men  to  covet  the  advantages  offered  by  railroad 
travel.  They  called  upon  the  officials  and  re- 
quested that  special  cars  should  be  run,  so  that 
their  caste  would  not  be  endangered.  The  polite 
officials  said  that  they  would  be  delighted  to  do  so, 
and  that  if  each  caste  would  guarantee  a  certain 
number  of  fares,  they  should  have  special  cars. 
They  did  not  guarantee  the  number  of  fares,  but 
after  a  while  the  higher  caste  men  concluded  that 
the  demands  of  their  business  would  justify  their 
taking  a  small  risk  on  caste.  They  slipped  into 
the  cars,  seated  themselves  in  the  corner  of  a  com- 
partment, held  themselves  close  and  trembled,  lest 
some  lower  caste  person  should  touch  and  pollute 


THE  INEVITABLE  193 

them,  and  traveled  in  fear  to  their  journey's  end. 
They  had  the  thrill  of  a  new  experience ;  and,  not 
having  died  from  it,  it  was  easier  to  do  it  again 
and  again,  until  one  day,  the  car  being  crowded, 
they  heard  the  startling,  iconoclastic,  "Sit  close, 
please !"  and  a  sudden  start  of  the  train  shot  one  of 
its  low-caste  passengers  from  the  jostling  throng 
into  the  seat  beside  a  high-caste  man.  As  he 
landed  the  touch  had  wrought  the  pollution  so  long 
feared.  The  high-caste  man  could  gain  nothing 
by  forfeiting  his  ticket  at  the  next  station  and 
walking  the  rest  of  the  way,  and  again  he  lived 
through  the  thrill  of  a  new  experience,  as  did 
many  others,  and  in  time  the  exceptional  became 
the  ordinary. 

So  the  railroad  quietly,  unintentionally,  but  in- 
exorably is  jostling  and  reforming  social  condi- 
tions, and  has  proved  to  be  an  effective  agent, 
working  with  Christianity  but  without  Christian 
intent,  doing  what  social  reformers,  pamphleteers, 
and  legislators  had  failed  to  accomplish  in  under- 
mining the  ancient,  abnormal,  and  paralyzing 
caste  system. 

3.  The  isolation  which  characterized  the  various 
provinces  and  districts  in  Southern  Asia  begat 
suspicion  and  registered  itself  in  famine  and  dis- 
ease. It  was  always  so.  The  villain  was  originally 
but  a  villager  who  was  not  known,  when  every 
stranger  was  a  supposed  enemy.    In  the  large  area 


194    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

and  varied  climatic  conditions  of  India  it  is  no 
unusual  thing  for  one  province  to  Lave  abundant 
harvests  while  another  more  or  less  remote  may 
be  blighted  with  famine  or  scourged  with  the 
plague. 

We  know  nothing  in  this  country  of  the  severity 
of  famine.  In  1769-70  about  one  third  of  the 
people  of  the  lower  valley  of  the  Ganges  died  from 
famine.  In  1856-57  about  one  fourth  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  province  of  Orissa  died.  In  1873-74 
England  imported  and  distributed  one  million  tons 
of  rice,  spending  $32,000,000  to  relieve  the  starv- 
ing. In  1876-78  she  expended  nearly  $60,000,- 
000,  and  the  railroads  greatly  facilitated  the  dis- 
tribution of  food  supplies.  In  1898  I  saw  that 
famine-stricken  land.  The  sympathy  of  God's 
people  in  America  had  loaded  the  whaleback  ship 
City  of  Everett  with  corn  and  beans,  and  sent  the 
cargo  to  India.  The  railroads  gave  free  transpor- 
tation to  the  grain  we  sent,  and  carried  it  here  and 
there  to  every  center  of  destitution,  from  which  it 
was  widely  distributed,  chiefly  by  the  missionaries. 
It  was  a  marvelous  ministry.  The  grains  of  India 
corn  are  very  small,  about  the  size  of  our  pop  corn ; 
and  when  the  famine-pinched  people  saw  the  large, 
generous  grains  of  American  corn,  they  said: 
^This  corn  came  from  the  Jesus  land.  How  God 
must  love  that  people !  See  how  big  he  makes  their 
corn."    Every  grain  was  an  evangel. 


THE  INEVITABLE  106 

By  simply  performing  the  commissions  of 
civilization,  the  railroads,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  are  distributing  to  the  uttermost  ends  of  the 
earth  the  seeds  of  the  kingdom.  Famines,  though 
still  occasional  and  severe,  are  not  to  be  compared 
with  those  of  a  century  ago.  The  ease  of  inter- 
communication illustrates  and  enforces  the  art  of 
sanitation  and  teaches  how  to  meet  and  prevent 
disease,  so  that  famine  and  pestilence  are  better 
controlled  and  less  feared  than  in  any  previous 
age. 

4.  Another  strong  intrenchment  of  paganism  is 
its  superstitious  reverence  for  shrines  and  cere- 
monies. This  is  fostered  by  thoroughly  organized 
pilgrimages  and  regular  propaganda  which  incite 
to  their  development  and  influence.  The  priests 
or  other  agents  are  sent  out  to  preach  the  virtues 
of  this  or  that  shrine,  and  they  have  their  pilgrim- 
ages so  scheduled  that  they  may  not  interfere  with 
one  another.  Some  person,  moved  by  a  sense  of 
sin  or  fired  by  desires  kindled  through  the  propa- 
ganda, concludes  to  make  a  pilgrimage.  It  be- 
comes known  in  his  village,  and  there  is  a  sacrifice 
before  he  starts,  or  a  feast  or  a  procession  to  the 
edge  of  the  village  to  see  him  off.  He  goes  on  his 
way,  begging  his  food.  When  night  comes  on  he 
stops  wherever  he  may  be,  covers  himself  with  his 
garment,  and  starts  off  the  next  day,  traveling 
leisurely  and  thinking  much  about  the  god  and  his 


196    GROWTH  OP  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEP'T 

shrine.  At  the  intersection  of  the  highways  he  is 
joined  by  others  from  neighboring  villages.  They 
compare  notes,  tell  the  traditions  they  have  heard 
or  invented,  and  quicken  each  other's  enthusiasm. 
Presently  they  begin  to  meet  pilgrims  returning, 
who  magnify  their  own  importance  by  reciting 
wonderful  stories  of  what  they  have  seen,  what 
they  have  felt,  and  what  they  can  do. 

Plenty  of  exercise,  simple  food,  and  living  out- 
doors are  never  thought  of  as  the  special  saints 
who  wrought  their  health.  Three,  four,  even  ^ve 
hundred  thousand  or  more  frequently  visited  some 
of  the  shrines  during  their  special  festivals.  At 
Hardwar,  where  the  Ganges  bursts  through  a  gorge 
into  a  plain,  there  was  an  annual  pilgrimage  of 
two  or  three  hundred  thousand,  and  once  in  twelve 
years  it  would  number  one  and  sometimes  over  two 
millions.  Some  of  the  pilgrims  proceeded  by  a 
series  of  weary  prostrations,  continuously  meas- 
uring their  length  upon  the  road,  while  others 
walked  with  pebbles  in  their  shoes,  or  afflicted 
themselves  with  cruel  tortures.  These  pilgrim- 
ages would  often  occupy  months,  sometimes  years. 
The  thoughts,  conversation,  desires,  and  imagina- 
tions were  all  focused  upon  the  god  and  his  shrine. 
'No  wonder  the  zeal  of  the  pilgrims  became  in- 
flamed. As  they  approached  the  shrine  they  could 
not  restrain  their  enthusiasm,  oftentimes  rushing 
madly  till  overcome  by  complete  exhaustion.     No 


THE  INEVITABLE  197 

hardship  daunted  them.  As  many  as  ten  thou- 
sand have  died  from  the  exposure  of  a  single  pil- 
grimage. Their  offerings  at  the  shrines  would 
sometimes  impoverish  the  pilgrims  for  a  lifetime. 
They  who  had  been  inquirers  when  they  were  going 
were  teachers  when  they  were  returning.  They 
were  received  in  their  villages  with  special  honors, 
and  forever  after  had  some  special  distinction. 

These  pilgrimages  were  too  lucrative  a  tempta- 
tion for  the  mercenary  railroads  to  ignore.  They 
built  branch  roads  into  the  shrines,  with  ample 
terminal  facilities  to  handle  the  vast  throngs,  mak- 
ing everything  as  safe  and  convenient  as  possible. 
Their  excursion  trains  were  frequent,  with  tickets 
to  suit  the  very  poor,  having  four  classes  and  cheap 
rates.  The  railroads  joined  the  propaganda,  to  in- 
crease the  attendance.  They  made  it  too  easy  by 
far.  A  man  took  two  or  three  days'  provision, 
paid  his  price,  or  at  most  a  few  annas,  got  into  a 
crowded  car,  was  jostled  by  weary  men,  and  dis- 
tracted by  the  swiftly  changing  scenery  and  nov- 
elty of  his  experience.  He  heard  stories,  many 
of  them  marvelous,  and  most  of  them  immoral, 
about  anything  else  but  the  shrine.  Wearied, 
hungry,  heated,  tired,  perhaps  carsick,  and  out  of 
temper,  he  came  to  the  shrines  in  no  mood  to  be 
responsive  to  their  influences.  He  visited  this  one 
and  that,  without  seeing  anything  which  specially 
interested  him,  and  returned  unimpressed.     He 


198     GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

had  been  gone  so  short  a  time  that  he  had  not  been 
missed,  but  it  was  long  enough  to  make  him  ever 
after  an  iconoclast.  This  is  true  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  the  attendance  at  some  of  the  shrines 
has  decreased  forty  per  cent,  sixty  per  cent,  even 
ninety  per  cent,  and  some  have  been  abandoned. 
Superstition  is  the  child  of  ignorance  and  the 
parent  of  cruelty.  The  railroads  are  unconsciously 
disseminating  knowledge,  dispelling  the  thick 
darkness  of  superstition,  and  exorcising  the  spirit 
of  cruelty.  Thus  they  have  been  a  potent  influ- 
ence in  destroying  the  power  of  the  false  gods  over 
the  masses  of  ignorant  people. 

5.  Another  point  of  resistance  in  paganism,  and 
the  last  one  I  shall  mention,  is  indifference  to  time 
and  disregard  for  engagements,  which  undermine 
all  their  moral  distinction.  !No  one  knows  whether 
their  promise,  when  made,  expresses  a  courtesy  to 
his  desire,  is  intended  to  deceive,  or  voices  a  pur- 
pose to  do.  To  them  to-morrow  is  as  good  as  to- 
day, and  two  or  three  days  hence,  or  next  week, 
is  still  better.  If  they  desire  to  go  on  a  railroad 
train  and  come  strolling  along  fifteen  minutes  late, 
they  may  sit  on  their  heels  or  lie  rolled  in  their 
wraps  for  twenty-three  hours  and  forty-five  min- 
utes, with  perfect  indifference,  till  the  next  train 
starts.  But  the  steady  movement  of  these  trains, 
marking  time  like  the  sentinels  of  God,  blowing 
their  whistles  at  the  crossings,  stopping  at  the  sta- 


THE  INEVITABLE  199 

tion  for  only  a  few  minutes,  then  darting  off  again 
as  scheduled,  arresting  the  attention  of  the  labor- 
ing classes,  farmers,  and  bazaarmen  as  they  speed 
through  the  land,  and  requiring  punctuality  of  all 
their  employees,  whoever  and  wherever  they  may 
be,  is  making  its  impression,  compelling  them  to 
regard  the  divisions  of  time  and  the  importance 
of  promptness.  It  is  revolutionizing  the  whole 
social  system,  establishing  standards,  securing  con- 
formity, reconstructing  habits  of  life,  and  laying 
hold  of  theii  moral  character.  The  shrill,  pene- 
trating, assertive  whistle  of  the  locomotive,  star- 
tling the  Hindus  and  Mohammedans  in  their  social 
lethargy,  is  called  by  them  "The  American  Devil"  ; 
but  it  has  proved  to  be  "The  voice  of  one  crying  in 
the  wilderness'^ — in  the  wilderness  of  their  spir- 
itual decrepitude — "Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord,  make  his  paths  straight." 

So  railroads,  though  commercial  corporations 
organized  for  financial  gain  and  administered  to 
produce  dividends  for  their  stockholders,  are  un- 
consciously but  steadily  working  for  the  kingdom. 
They  develop  and  diffuse  wealth  and  mitigate 
famine,  plague,  and  isolation.  They  correct  tend- 
encies to  disintegrating  individualism  by  conserv- 
ing solidarity,  and  destroy  the  abnormal  solidar- 
ity of  caste  by  disenthralling  and  individualizing 
personal  responsibility.  They  prevent  dissipation 
through   insistence  upon  temperance  and  provi- 


200    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

sion  for  rest,  and  stimulate  activity,  encourage 
reliability,  and  strengthen  purposefulness.  They 
foster  intelligence,  beget  reverence  for  order,  dis- 
seminate knowledge,  correct  superstition,  and 
exorcise  cruelty.  They  undermine  belief  in  the 
false  gods  and  teach  faith  in  the  true  God. 

The  Grecian  language,  with  its  marvelous  flexi- 
bility and  exquisite  discriminations,  was  not  the 
gospel;  but  it  gave  a  fixed,  exact,  and  determin- 
able matrix  into  which  the  teachings  of  our  Lord 
and  his  apostles  might  be  cast,  preserved,  and 
transmitted  to  all  time.  The  widely  extended  and 
compactly  organized  Roman  empire  was  not  the 
kingdom  of  God,  but  it  held  the  world  free  from 
armed  strife  while  the  Prince  of  Peace  voiced  in 
word  and  ministry  his  message  from  the  Father. 
The  roads  reaching  to  every  province,  built  and 
patrolled  by  Roman  authority,  were  constructed 
and  maintained  to  speed  their  legions  when  needed 
to  suppress  revolt  or  extend  the  hand  of  greed,  but 
they  facilitated  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  giving  to 
the  heralds  of  the  kingdom  of  love  easy  access  to 
the  remote  places  of  the  earth. 

By  divine  permission  the  byways  of  the  gospel 
become  the  highways  of  commerce,  and,  under 
divine  compulsion,  commercial  enterprise  and  ac- 
tivity are  included  in  the  all  things  which  work 
together  for  the  furtherance  of  the  kingdom  The 
commissioned  evangelist  is  not  the  only  agency 


THE  INEVITABLE  201 

which  has  been  at  work.  He  is  the  officiating 
priest,  essential,  transforming,  conserving;  but 
in  the  providence  of  God  there  are  other  sons  of 
Levi  and  still  other  servants  in  the  house  of  Israel, 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  who  are  not 
of  the  true  Israel,  but  who  serve  in  the  appointed 
order. 

This  is  God's  universe ;  he  has  never  abdicated ; 
he  reigns  and  must  forever  reign.  Jesus  made  the 
supremo  demonstration  of  his  irrepressible  love. 
"Wherefore  also  God  highly  exalted  him,  and  gave 
unto  him  the  name  which  is  above  every  name; 
that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow, 
of  things  in  heaven  and  things  on  earth,  and  things 
under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  con- 
fess that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God 
the  Father."  "Being  the  holiest  among  the 
mighty,  and  the  mightiest  among  the  holy,  he  has 
lifted  with  his  pierced  hand  empires  off  their 
hinges,  and  has  turned  the  stream  of  centuries  out 
of  its  channel,  and  still  governs  the  ages." 

At  creation,  whenever  that  was,  he  appointed 
to  matter  its  characteristics  and  restrictions  within 
which  it  has  its  being  and  must  serve  his  purpose. 
He  assigned  to  every  force  and  energy  its  limita- 
tions and  law  of  action,  which  they  may  not 
transcend  or  ignore.  The  universe  is  not  an  ag- 
gregation but  an  orgahism.  Its  secrets  and  its 
combinations  are  revealed  to  the  obedient.     The 


202    GROWTH  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  CONCEPT 

ministries  of  all  things  are  for  the  faithful,  those 
who  "are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose." 

It  is  more  than  a  coincidence  that  science,  the 
great  industrial  arts,  the  inventions  and  develop- 
ments which  combine  and  utilize  the  great  forces 
of  nature,  as  well  as  the  brotherhood  of  humanity 
and  organized  benevolence,  had  their  genesis  and 
have  their  consummate  fruitage  only  where  the 
gospel  has  quickened,  inspired,  and  directed  hu- 
manity. There  can  be  but  one  outcome;  that  is 
inevitable. 

By  the  purpose  of  their  birth  and  the  condition 
of  their  continuance  all  things  have  worked  to- 
gether in  the  past,  are  working  together  now,  and 
must  work  together  in  the  future  for  good,  till  the 
appointed  end  is  accomplished,  and  Jesiis,  whose 
right  it  is  to  reign,  shall  be  enthroned  and  loyally 
loved  in  every  heart. 


Princeton  Theologi 


peer  >-"-""'',,  ,,iii  ii 

Illil 

1   1012  01092  2773 


M:  V 


Date  Due 


iHlip^"^'^  P<M 


'jiiiniiiiiiun 


lllllli!"""" 


